Steyn set for Winter Olympics bow
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Sunday, 16 February 2014 00:00
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Sports ReporterZimbabwe’s pride at the 2014 Winter Olympics currently under way in Russia, Luke Steyn, will participate in the slalom and giant slalom events on Wednesday and Saturday at the Khutor Alpine Centre in Sochi.
His events are as follows:19 February: 1100hrs — Men’s Giant Slalom Run 11430hrs — Men’s Giant Slalom Run 222 February — 1645hrs Men’s Slalom Run 12015hrs — Men’s Slalom Run 2
In the slalom event, athletes are required to ski a course marked with flags and gates that are spaced much closer together than in the downhill event, giant slalom, or super giant slalom. In this competition, athletes must ski two courses, and the sum of their results makes up their total time.
In the giant slalom, the gates are placed farther apart than in the slalom, but not as far apart as in the super-G. Men’s races have 56 to 70 gates, while ladies’ have 46 to 58. The result is the sum of the skier’s times on two different courses.
Steyn faces competition from Marcel Hirscher of Austria and Ted Ligety of the US, who are among the top-ranked skiers in the world. Steyn is currently ranked 2 962nd in slalom and 1 711th in giant slalom, according to his biography on the International Olympic Committee’s website.
In 2013, Steyn competed at Chamonix in France, New Zealand’s Coronet Peak and California’s Mammoth Mountain, where he finished sixth in the giant slalom.
That was his highest position in 2013, according to the International Ski Federation.Steyn will compete in Sochi’s Rosa, which was developed by ski architect Bernhard Russi.
He will be facing competition from the likes of Austria’s Hirscher, the Number 1-ranked overall male alpine skier, and Ligety of the US, ranked third in the giant slalom by the governing body.
Although taking part in the events with great confidence and determination, Steyn is not expecting medals at Sochi but is using the experience to hone his performance for future competitions.
“It’s one of the most unfair sports,” Steyn said. “You are 55-60 kilos, skinny and you’re competing against 28-year-olds who have been doing this their whole life, it’s very difficult to get close to them.”
With a $1 500 monthly stipend from the International Olympic Committee, Steyn will represent a country with no official record of snow. Steyn, born in Harare, left Zimbabwe as a three-year-old when his father, a former Rio Tinto plc employee, moved to Europe.
From there, vacations in the ski resorts of France and Switzerland led to his competing when he and his family moved to London in 2000.“It’s definitely what you’re exposed to,” Steyn, who lives with his parents in London’s Kingston upon Thames suburb, said in a telephone interview.
“I was given opportunities to attend the academies, and from there I went from one thing to another, and I found myself competing internationally.”
Steyn was the 10th Olympic carrier of Zimbabwe’s green, yellow, red, black and white flag at the opening ceremony. He succeeded Coventry, the flag-bearer at the 2012 Summer Games in London.
The similarities between Steyn and Coventry (30) do not end there. Both are from Harare and enrolled at US colleges, training between classes. Steyn is currently taking a year off from his education, while Coventry graduated from Alabama’s Auburn University with a degree in hotel and restaurant management.
Coventry is “a huge inspiration,” Steyn said.“What I think we can all learn from her is that it doesn’t matter if you are from a smaller sporting nation like Zimbabwe, you can still achieve top results on an international sporting platform,” Steyn said.
Steyn’s TeamHe says he will not be lonely in Sochi as a lone athlete.“Being a one-person team will be strange for me, I have spent most of my skiing career on teams,” he said.
“But I will have a coach, a physio, the chef de mission and my family there and hopefully a few supporters, so in that respect I will have a team to share the experience with.”
Veteran sports administrator Kathy Lobb is Zimbabwe’s chef de mission at the Sochi Games.For Winter Games athletes — especially those from non-typical winter sports countries — cost and exposure are the main barriers to entry, according to David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.
“A lot of it has to do with money,” he said in a telephone interview from Sochi. “Anyone can run 100 metres or throw, but winter sports are expensive. If you want to snowboard or bobsled, you need equipment, you need the venues.”
Steyn isn’t expecting medals at Sochi and is using the experience to hone his performance for future competitions. Although he moved to London in 2000, the year when Coventry first went to the Olympics as a 16-year-old in Sydney, he never really saw competing for the UK as an option.
Now he is happy to be breaking new ground for his country.“It’s easier to get exposed to summer sports,” Steyn said.
“It’s unique in itself for a Zimbabwean to be exposed to winter sport. It’s been a funny journey.”
Additional reporting by Bloomberg.
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His events are as follows:19 February: 1100hrs — Men’s Giant Slalom Run 11430hrs — Men’s Giant Slalom Run 222 February — 1645hrs Men’s Slalom Run 12015hrs — Men’s Slalom Run 2
In the slalom event, athletes are required to ski a course marked with flags and gates that are spaced much closer together than in the downhill event, giant slalom, or super giant slalom. In this competition, athletes must ski two courses, and the sum of their results makes up their total time.
In the giant slalom, the gates are placed farther apart than in the slalom, but not as far apart as in the super-G. Men’s races have 56 to 70 gates, while ladies’ have 46 to 58. The result is the sum of the skier’s times on two different courses.
Steyn faces competition from Marcel Hirscher of Austria and Ted Ligety of the US, who are among the top-ranked skiers in the world. Steyn is currently ranked 2 962nd in slalom and 1 711th in giant slalom, according to his biography on the International Olympic Committee’s website.
In 2013, Steyn competed at Chamonix in France, New Zealand’s Coronet Peak and California’s Mammoth Mountain, where he finished sixth in the giant slalom.
That was his highest position in 2013, according to the International Ski Federation.Steyn will compete in Sochi’s Rosa, which was developed by ski architect Bernhard Russi.
He will be facing competition from the likes of Austria’s Hirscher, the Number 1-ranked overall male alpine skier, and Ligety of the US, ranked third in the giant slalom by the governing body.
Although taking part in the events with great confidence and determination, Steyn is not expecting medals at Sochi but is using the experience to hone his performance for future competitions.
“It’s one of the most unfair sports,” Steyn said. “You are 55-60 kilos, skinny and you’re competing against 28-year-olds who have been doing this their whole life, it’s very difficult to get close to them.”
With a $1 500 monthly stipend from the International Olympic Committee, Steyn will represent a country with no official record of snow. Steyn, born in Harare, left Zimbabwe as a three-year-old when his father, a former Rio Tinto plc employee, moved to Europe.
From there, vacations in the ski resorts of France and Switzerland led to his competing when he and his family moved to London in 2000.“It’s definitely what you’re exposed to,” Steyn, who lives with his parents in London’s Kingston upon Thames suburb, said in a telephone interview.
“I was given opportunities to attend the academies, and from there I went from one thing to another, and I found myself competing internationally.”
Steyn was the 10th Olympic carrier of Zimbabwe’s green, yellow, red, black and white flag at the opening ceremony. He succeeded Coventry, the flag-bearer at the 2012 Summer Games in London.
The similarities between Steyn and Coventry (30) do not end there. Both are from Harare and enrolled at US colleges, training between classes. Steyn is currently taking a year off from his education, while Coventry graduated from Alabama’s Auburn University with a degree in hotel and restaurant management.
Coventry is “a huge inspiration,” Steyn said.“What I think we can all learn from her is that it doesn’t matter if you are from a smaller sporting nation like Zimbabwe, you can still achieve top results on an international sporting platform,” Steyn said.
Steyn’s TeamHe says he will not be lonely in Sochi as a lone athlete.“Being a one-person team will be strange for me, I have spent most of my skiing career on teams,” he said.
“But I will have a coach, a physio, the chef de mission and my family there and hopefully a few supporters, so in that respect I will have a team to share the experience with.”
Veteran sports administrator Kathy Lobb is Zimbabwe’s chef de mission at the Sochi Games.For Winter Games athletes — especially those from non-typical winter sports countries — cost and exposure are the main barriers to entry, according to David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians.
“A lot of it has to do with money,” he said in a telephone interview from Sochi. “Anyone can run 100 metres or throw, but winter sports are expensive. If you want to snowboard or bobsled, you need equipment, you need the venues.”
Steyn isn’t expecting medals at Sochi and is using the experience to hone his performance for future competitions. Although he moved to London in 2000, the year when Coventry first went to the Olympics as a 16-year-old in Sydney, he never really saw competing for the UK as an option.
Now he is happy to be breaking new ground for his country.“It’s easier to get exposed to summer sports,” Steyn said.
“It’s unique in itself for a Zimbabwean to be exposed to winter sport. It’s been a funny journey.”
Additional reporting by Bloomberg.
// View the discussion thread. blog comments powered by DISQUS back to top
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