By John Essien
Nigeria’s French-born Samuel Ikpefan will enter into the history books as the first Nigerian man to debut as the Winter Olympics cross-country skier in the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, China.
After his first skiing experience at the age of six, he dreamed of becoming a professional skier.
Despite coming from the French system, Ikpefan was considered not good enough to represent the country of his birth, as then 19-year-old took a break from his dream in 2011 only to return three years later.
In 2018, Ikpefan began a new journey to stardom after he obtained a Nigerian passport through the help of his dad.
However, without funding, and without any natural snow in his country, he went ahead to launch a crowd-funding campaign online to purchase equipment and arrange for his travel to other countries for training and competitions.
Now, because of his participation, Nigeria, a country without snow, will have the opportunity to win a medal at Beijing 2022. “Nothing is impossible,” said the 30-year-old.
This is the second time Nigeria will be participating since her debut in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea where Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere, Akuoma and Simidele Adeagbo represented the country.
There are five other athletes competing for other African countries. Among them will be Mialitiana Clerc, Madagascar’s first female Olympic Skier, Ghana’s Carlos Maeder, the third-ever Ghanaian to qualify for the Winter Olympics.
