Phillip Boit
Cross-country skier Phillip Boit of Kenya competed in the men's 15-km classical in Torino, where he finished 92nd out of 97. This is his third Winter Games, though; he drew attention in Nagano in 1998, where he finished last in a 10-km event. He's now one of a handful of African cross-country skiers, able to compete under the basic quota and not necessarily doing a bad job of it. More on Boit -- and how a guy from a running mecca in Kenya ended up on the cross-country ski circuit as part of a Nike sponsorship gimmick -- from Strata, the Deseret News and the BBC, all of which date from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
Labels: cross-country skiing, history, kenya, nagano 1998, profile, torino 2006
2 Comments:
At 1:24 PM, February 26, 2006 ,
Mr. Summer Camp said...
Hi, I just found your site thanks to a mention in Sports Illustrated magazine, and I think it's great. Being in the Olympics has long been a dream of mine (which I know I won't achieve), and I truly envy those who are, even the last-place finishers.
What's more, those are the folks who often have the most inspiring stories of all. Reading about Bob Beamon destroying the long jump world record in 1968 fascinates me, but I can't relate to it in the slightest. Reading about John Ahkwari, and what he said after finishing last in the marathon the same year, inspires me, because I feel like I can relate to that. See http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1328384&type=page2Story
for more on Ahkwari (and watch the Greenspan movie about the Mexico City Olympics, too).
At 5:57 PM, February 26, 2006 ,
James said...
This is a great story, something like what I like to feature on www.runner-up.org. You might want to consider contributing once in a while when DFL ends. The offer is always there.
And thanks again for doing such a great job again this year. I hope you'll be up for it again in Beijing!
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