How Ghana’s Akwasi Frimpong and Nigeria’s Simidele Adeagbo Performed at The 2018 Winter Olympics.

Akwasi Frimpong represented Ghana at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics for the first time. In heat 1, he managed to finish in 53.97 seconds just 3.69 seconds behind the fastest athlete putting him in 30th position out of 30th.
He failed to improve his time in heat 2 as he finished in 54.46 seconds, 4.39 behind the fastest. The 32-year-old improved his time to 53.69 in heat 3 taking his overall time to 2:42.12 and remained 30th.

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Although he didn’t win any medals, he was glad he could inspire many. “My aim was three things,” explains Frimpong, “to break down barriers and show that people from warm countries can do winter sport; second, it was to write history for my country, which was to inspire the kids to come out of their comfort zone and dare to dream. And the third thing was to gain experience [in the skeleton]. I did exactly what my goal was.”
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“People are inspired, you know? I came last in the competition, but nobody sees it like that. You’ve got people in Korea, in the Netherlands, in Africa; I won the hearts of the people. The Koreans were amazing, cheering me on like i was the gold medallist,”[/perfectpullquote]

the Ghanaian added.
Frimpong believes he can win a medal at the next Olympics.
“It’s a sport of experience and I’m just grateful that I gained that experience. The burning desire to win a medal in 2022 is even greater now.”

Simidele Adeagbo represented Nigeria in the Women’s Skeleton for the first time at the winter Olympics and she also had an opportunity to experience first- hand, what it is like to participate at the winter games.
In Heat 1, the Nigerian completed in 54.19 seconds, 2.53 behind the fastest slider to finish at the bottom of the log.  In Heat 2, she slowed down and finished in 54.58 seconds. She managed to improve her time in Heat 3 to 53.73 and reduced the difference from the fastest opponent to 1.90. The improvement was however short-lived as she declined back to 54.28 in Heat 4 and her total time was 3:36.78 and finished in 20th position.

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The Nigerian took to Instagram and said, “Victory is mine! My heart is full. I’m overflowing with joy. I answered the call and served Nigeria with all my strength. This shining moment will live on in time forever.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The world has now seen the first Nigerian, African, and Black woman compete in the Skeleton at the Winter Olympics. The barrier is broken. The door is now open. The legacy is in place & the trail has been blazed for this chosen generation and those still to come. We will keep rising!” [/perfectpullquote]