Word: skiing
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Then last spring, he had an idea: he would ski in the Olympics. He had first seen cross-country on television, during Calgary in 1988, and tried the sport after moving to Wisconsin. (He also tried downhill but says, "Why would you want to go through that? I could slam into a tree and just die!") Though he wasn't much good, he thought he could do well enough to cause a stir. Then he could attempt a noble bait-and-switch, getting Cameroon's television or radio stations to give him air time to tell about his Olympic experiences...
...Menyoli got in touch with the International Ski Federation, which told him to go to his national Olympic organization. "I was surprised that a Cameroonian could be interested," says Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, president of Cameroon's National Olympic and Sports Committee. "But I heard the idea and supported him." With his country's administrative backing and his own savings, Menyoli set off for Alaska and Canada last fall for his five required qualifying races. He placed last in four races and second-to-last in one, but finishing was all that mattered...
...goes to Salt Lake City, where he will line up for the 15-km classical race alongside some of his skiing heroes. He's looking forward to meeting World Cup leader Per Elofsson of Sweden, who is a gold-medal threat at every distance. And he wants to talk to the Italians; one of Menyoli's favorite cross-country moments was the finish of the Lillehammer men's relay, when Italy shocked the Norwegians at the line, winning by no more than a ski...
...cannot avoid the answers. When Menyoli asked himself what would happen if he became an Olympian, he knew the answer. "I'm such an amateur skier," he says. "It's tough." But the sport isn't really the point. Menyoli's Olympic-sized ambition is. "I want to ski for a reason," he says. "I want to tell people that they really have to watch out, that AIDS is serious." He'll deserve a medal if he gets that message across...
...Kostelics travel together as a family when they can, with brother and sister often training together. Father Ante, who coaches both, is pleased that neither "can ever have enough of skiing. Other skiers can't wait to take off their ski boots and do something else, but I have to make them stop...