Alpine skiing-African and Caribbean skiers unite to call for more inclusion, support

BORMIO, Italy, Feb 15 : Six Olympic skiers joined by their parents, coaches and federation presidents came together on Sunday to advocate for more inclusion at the Winter Games.

Representing Jamaica, Kenya, Eritrea, Madagascar, South Africa and Benin, the group gathered in Bormio, where the men's alpine races are taking place this year.

They were brought together by Henri Rivers III, coach of the Jamaica ski team and father of competing slalom skier Henri Rivers IV.

Rivers is also President of the National Brotherhood of Snowsport (NBS), an organisation that aims to support athletes of colour in snowsport.

He said a lot of the athletes gathered in Bormio rarely see skiers of colour when they train at home. 

"Look at all these athletes that you're looking at here. I can tell you, they probably train on a hill where they're the only ones," Rivers said of the group around him, made up largely of Black skiers.

He wanted to unite the athletes now to uplift each other but also to call for more inclusion and support for smaller nations, both from the International Olympic Committee and larger confederations.

ABOUT INCLUSION, NOT JUST RACING

Issa Gachingiri-Laborde, representing Kenya, has already completed his Olympic race. The 18-year-old finished 66th out of 73 athletes in the giant slalom, competing against the likes of ski giants Marco Odermatt and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen.

Standing by his side were his mother and father, who beamed with pride.

"It's not just about racing," his mother Josephine Laborde Gachingiri said of her son representing her native Kenya. "It's just about inclusion. The Olympic motto says, 'Inclusion.'

"So, I think when we talk about the Olympics, we talk about the whole world, we talk about (all) countries ...