Ghana Sports Update

Updated below
Sunday afternoon the Black Stars (Ghana's national soccer, er... football team) fought brilliantly against the heavily favored Pharaohs of Egypt in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations Tournament. Ghana came out aggressively, pressing at every chance, setting up a few good scoring opportunities but the ball just would not find the back of the net. The teams were scoreless entering the final ten minutes. Then, at the 83rd minute Egypt broke through the Ghana defense and put one past the goal keeper for the match's only score.
Tonight I watched on local television live coverage of the team's chartered flight arrive at Kotoka Airport in Accra where hundreds of cheering fans awaited. The nation is proud of its Black Stars and looks forward to this summer's World Cup in South Africa.

Now another "black star" is coming on the scene. Kwame "The Snow Leopard" Nkrumah-Acheampong will represent Ghana at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver in alpine skiing.

Yes, snow skiing.

He's from Ghana.

There are no mountains in Ghana.

There is no snow.

He learned to ski six years ago on a dry hillside.

The Snow Leopard will become the first Ghanaian to ever participate in the Winter Olympics.
Some might compare him to England's Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, the pudgy, very near-sighted ski jumping spectacle of the '88 Calgary Olympics. But Nkrumah-Acheampong says he prefers comparison to the Jamaican bobsled team that inspired the movie "Cool Runnings." He told CNN "If you want to be a sportsman, be a sportsman. If you want to have fun then do sports for leisure. Don't take the seriousness of sport and make a mockery of it."

Personally, I'll be pulling for The Snow Leopard but I don't expect much competitive success. But I am happy that his involvement should bring some Olympic TV coverage to Ghana, a place where the Winter Olympics would otherwise hardly be an afterthought.
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Update:
"The Snow Leopard" has started the first ever Ghanaian Ski Team. He hopes to raise awareness for skiing and expose children to the sport by creating a "dry hill" in Ghana where, with specialized equipment, they can learn how to ski.