Fire On Ice
As history is made in the 2018 Winter Olympics with the large amount of Olympians of color participating, more black youth will be inspired to participate in winter sports because of this years olympics
This year’s 2018 Winter Olympics will light a fire in the hearts of children of color dreaming of becoming a winter Olympian. History has been made in several different categories in the winter games such as Ice hockey, Alpine Skiing, and many others where black olympians are competing for medals. Sabrina Simader, Simidele Adeagbo, and Jordan Greenway and other notable people of color are providing self-representation in a realm of sports that not too many blacks have participated in as a result of economic, environmental and racial barriers.
Among countries that participate in the Winter Olympics, many have extremely small black populations. Also, there has not been a huge wave of black Olympians in the history books, so naturally the lack of representation would lead one to believe they don’t belong, or that winter sports are not for them, but that has changed. Of the 23 Winter Olympics about 10 medalists spread across those years have been athletes of color. Participating in this year’s Olympics are about 41 black men and women, standing out as the most people of color to participate in the Winter Olympics ever.
As a result, children of color can imagine themselves becoming a Winter Olympian, seeing themselves participating in such sports as skiing, speed-skating, hockey, and bobsledding. Now children will have role models in sports outside of those that the majority of the black community participates in such as basketball and football. These current black Olympians are providing a path for younger children. For example, the Nigerian bobsledding team made history as the first team in Africa to compete in the sport. A team of women who all transitioned from running track to participating in Bobsledding, showed how their skills transfer into a new world of sports.
Barriers still stand for much of the black community that may desire to participate in the Winter Olympics. One large barrier is the financial portion as training, traveling and equipment can be very expensive. Figure skating alone could run between $35,000 to $50,000 to cover the expenses of a coach for $120 an hour, $40 a day for time on the ice, $5,000 for choreography, up to $10,000 or more for hand sewn clothing, $1,000 for skates and another $1,000 for the blades, travel expenses and much more. This is money that not many in the black community can afford to spend, making it that much more difficult for people of color to join, and that’s just one sport.
Another barrier is environmental as many places with large black populations have more access to basketball courts, football fields and tracks instead of skating rinks, snowy slopes, and ice tracks. Also, many areas with a high concentration of people of color are place with warmer climate. These barriers will no longer stand in the way of people of color participating in winter sports with people like Sabrina Simader being the first and one and only Kenyan to compete in the Alpine Skiing, Jordan Greenway the first black man on Team USA’s Hockey team, and Maame Biney being the first African-American women to qualify for Team USA’s Speed Skating Team. We can thank these current Winter Olympians and bask in excitement and pride as they light a flame for the future, performing on ice.
By Corey Rious Jr.
