Off the beaten track: Jamaicans on the slopes

Michael Williams: Claiming the dream

Alessandro Boyd, Gleaner Writer

With less than five months left to qualify, 43-year-old professional skier Michael Williams has his sights set on achieving his lifelong dream - ski for the Jamaica national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Williams' passion for the sport started back in 1988 as he sat and watched Jamaicans compete in the Winter Olympics for the very first time.

"Two things really inspired me. First, of course, was our bobsled team and the whole excitement behind what they were doing for Jamaica. We were actually performing in a winter sport at the Olympics!" Williams exclaimed as he spoke with Outlook recently.

"Secondly, I began to watch a lot of skiing during those Olympics as well. That really inspired me and I just thought, 'Wow, one day I would love to ski for Jamaica in the Olympics'," he said.

Ten years later, Williams started to test his skills in the sports. But he wasn't quite ready to make the leap into skiing. He instead dabbled in American football and basketball.

Williams would soon experience a life-changing moment when his older brother was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 - a battle he eventually lost in 2007.

"During the time before his death, we spoke a lot and he told me something before he passed away. 'Make sure whatever you do in your life, you follow your dreams. No matter how small or big they may be, just follow them'," Williams recalled.

"I told him, one of the few people at the time whom I did tell, that I would love to ski for Jamaica. I thought he would laugh, but he didn't. He told me to do it, go for it because I only have one life to live," Williams said.

Those words were already stuck in Williams' mind in 2010 when he received further inspiration.

"I was watching the Winter Olympics again in Vancouver and that's when I saw Errol Kerr skiing for Jamaica and I thought, 'Wow, we have a Jamaica Ski Federation!' I called and spoke to the federation and that's how I got the opportunity to first represent Jamaica as a skier," he said.

"They told me I needed to go and find some coaches because I didn't know how to ski. I needed to find somewhere, because where I lived in Germany, it wasn't anywhere near the mountains."

Williams travelled to an indoor ski hall he had heard about and told the instructors there his story. Through this meeting, he would meet an Austrian coach and together they travelled to the Alps where Williams would ski for the very first time.

"The first time was a very good feeling. It was very interesting to be on a mountain, not just a little kiddy hill, and to try to ski, which was very unique. I really had a good time with it," he remembered.

After that first experience, Williams would visit the Alps on weekends and train two or three days every week. He quit his job in order to dedicate his whole life to becoming a professional skier and to prepare himself to participate in the World Championship in 2011.

"We basically started training all the time, every day for the World Championship. That was the second biggest thing we could do in skiing, next to the Olympics.

"We practised practically daily from September to October right through to the World Championship, which was really cool. People thought that this guy is here every day and he is just getting better and better."

Williams went on to compete in the 2011 Alpine World Championship and finished both of his races despite tearing a ligament in his knee prior to the event.

Next on his agenda is the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics that will take place in Russia next February.

"We have to reach a specific point on the International Ski Federation's ranking to actually qualify, so I have a lot of work to do. I plan to race in different places throughout the world. I missed the entire ski season because I was injured, so I need to accumulate the points that I missed," Williams explained.

He notes that he faced many financial challenges as costs really add up when all the factors such as travel fees, equipment and paying coaches are combined.

"I'm nervous and excited at the same time about the prospect of competing in the Olympics. I'm nervous because, being 43 years old, this is the last chance I will have to go and do something like that. However, I am very excited because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he states.