Ethiopia At The 2010 Winter Olympics
Background
Ethiopia first competed in the Summer Olympics at the 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia. With the exceptions of 1976, 1984, and 1988, the nation has competed in every Summer Olympics since then. Ethiopia made their debut at the Winter Olympic Games four years prior, at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Like the Turin Olympics, cross-country skier Robel Teklemariam was the only athlete Ethiopia sent to the Vancouver Olympics. Teklemariam had finished 84th in the Turin Olympics. He was born in Ethiopia, but took up skiing while living in Lake Placid, New York, United States; before returning to Ethiopia and being a part of establishing the Ethiopian Ski Association. Teklemariam was chosen as the flag bearer for both the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony.
Cross-country skiing
Robel Teklemariam was 35 years old at the time of the Vancouver Olympics. He trained for the Olympics by roller skiing in the streets of Addis Ababa. He said his goal for the Vancouver Games was "to improve on his performance from Italy and to inspire young Ethiopians to follow in his ski tracks." He was entered into a single event, the 15 kilometre freestyle. In the race, held on 15 February 2010, he finished with a time of 45 minutes and 18 seconds, nearly 12 minutes off the gold-medal winning time. He finished in 93rd place, out of 95 competitors who finished the race.
Athlete | Event | Final | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Time | Deficit | Rank | ||
Robel Teklemariam | 15 kilometre freestyle | 45:18.9 | 11:42.6 | 93 |
References
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- ^ "Ethiopia at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ Crouse, Karen (12 February 2010). "Ones to Know: Robel Teklemariam". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ Hughes, Dana (13 February 2010). "Olympic Skier From, Uh ... Ethiopia". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ Young, Ben (15 February 2014). "Jamaican Bobsleigh? No, Ethiopian ski team!". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ "Complete list of 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic flag-bearers". The Vancouver Sun. 12 February 2010. Archived from the original on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ "The Flagbearers for the Vancouver 2010 Closing Ceremony" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. 28 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ "Robel Teklemariam Bio, Stats, and Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ Kerby, Trey (12 February 2010). "Robel Teklemariam is the Ethiopian Olympic team". Yahoo!. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ "Cross Country Skiing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games: Men's 15 kilometres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ Phillips, Michael (16 February 2010). "Robel Teklemariam places 93rd in cross country ski event". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 5 May 2018.