Carlos Mäder longed to be a footballer while growing up in Switzerland, but later in life, his friends encouraged him to pursue skiing. At 43, he finally got his chance, representing Ghana in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Carlos Mäder is representing Ghana in BeijingImage: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT/KEYSTONE/picture alliance
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No one would have blamed first-time Olympian Carlos Mäder for taking a cautious run down Yanqing's Ice River course during Sunday's men's giant slalom.
Even some of the top racers were struggling with the snowy conditions. Competition had to be paused continuously for workers to clean up the course, and the second run was delayed by nearly two hours.
But Mäder, who, at 43, is the oldest Alpine skiing competitor at the Winter Olympics, did not work so hard to go slow. Ghana's sole representative came to Beijing to go fast.
"If you don't risk, you're far behind, so it's always full gas," Mäder told DW. "I always want to go as fast as possible. For me, just coming down is not an option."
Sporting Ghanaian flags on both of his legs and arms, Mäder's run didn't last long. He couldn't even make it through the first sector before spinning out to the left. But he has no regrets.
"I'd rather be kicked out in the finish than think 'I didn't do everything to be fast,'" he said. "For sure I hoped to finish, but it is what it is."
Who is Carlos Mäder?
Soon after he was born as Kojo Benya Brown in Cape Coast, southern Ghana, Mäder's mother put him up for adoption. "She was alone and could not feed me," he wrote on his website.
Mäder, therefore, grew up in central Switzerland close to a little ski resort in Mörlialp. That's why, he said, "I could probably ski before I could walk."
He had aspirations of being a footballer and played in the academy of top tier Swiss club FC Luzern. But after his football dreams fell away, he took up snowboarding. But about six years ago, his friends pushed him to start skiing.
All that time, he maintained his connection to his homeland, and his dream was to represent Ghana at the Olympics. But he had to obtain a passport and a license with skiing's governing body FIS before he could make his dream come true.
"I wanted to qualify for the [2018] Pyeongchang Olympics, actually, but I just had four or five weeks to achieve this goal," Mäder said. "It didn't work out, but I swore to myself that I'd try again and here I am."
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Ghana's lone representative
And now he's in Beijing, without funding from a national Olympic committee and without a personal coach, which he couldn't afford. He carried Ghana's flag as its lone representative at the opening ceremony — he's the third Olympian, and second skier, from the western African country.
Mäder has also tried to support Ghana off the slope, with a charity called Hope for Ghana. He donates up to 10% of his sponsorship and donations to this project, which supports schools in very poor regions with libraries and computer learning labs.
"It means a lot to raise the flag for Ghana as a winter sport nation," Mäder told DW. "Ghana doesn't stop at the borders. We are spread all around the world. I hope I can inspire some young guys to follow dreams — work hard and you can achieve something crazy."
Crazy was certainly what he was going for, but he wasn't the only African skier to spin out in the first run of Sunday's men's giant slalom. Yassine Aouich of Morocco and Madagascar's Mathieu Neumuller also didn't make it to the bottom, with Eritrea's Shannon Abeda the only African able to ski into the afternoon.
But Mäder didn't seem to mind. For him, just being in Beijing was an accomplishment.
"I'm still a one-man show," he told DW. "It was a lot of work, and the qualification to be here was the payoff for the hard work."
When asked by DW about finally living his Olympic dream at 43, Mäder could only laugh.
"When I started the project, I was already 37," he said. "It was always somebody else telling me 'Hey! You're 43!' What can I say? I won't focus on the next Olympics."
Beijing 2022: Memorable moments at the Winter Games
The Olympic Games are the biggest stage in sports. This year's winter edition has already offered joy, despair, medals and tricks. DW has picked out some of the highlights of Beijing 2022.
Image: Xinhua/imago images
From Beijing to Milan
The 2022 Winter Olympics ends with the closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest Stadium. With Chinese President Xi Jinping in attendance, IOC President Thomas Bach described the Games as 'truly exceptional' — but they will be remembered for a doping scandal that enveloped 15-year-old Russian skating sensation Kamila Valieva. Beijing passes the baton to Milan, the host of the next Winter Games in 2026.
Image: Xinhua/imago images
German joy!
Francesco Friedrich throws his arms aloft after securing a double-double. The German bobsled pilot won gold in two and four-man bobsled at Pyeongchang 2018 and repeated the dose in Beijing. Sunday's win in the four-man bob meant Germany have won all but one of the gold medals on offer in the sliding sports. It also ensures they finish second on the medal table, behind Norway.
Image: Edgar Su/REUTERS
Flailing in vain
The puck eludes the outstretched goalie stick of the Russian Olympic Committee's (ROC) Ivan Fedotov, as Swedish captain Anton Lander (58) levels the score in their men's ice hockey tournament semifinal. The ROC won the match in a penalty shootout and moved on to try to defend the gold medal they won in Pyeongchang in 2018. Finland also advanced, beating Slovakia 2-0 in the other semi.
Image: Harry How/AP/picture alliance
Utter despair
Figure skater Kamila Valieva had a terrible free skate, which saw her go from a favorite for gold to failing to reach the podium. The 15-year-old Russian had been under incredible pressure following news of a positive doping test and a CAS decision allowing her to continue to compete. Instead of consoling her after the free skate, her coach demanded an explanation: Why did you let it go? Tell me,"
Image: David J. Phillip/AP/picture alliance
Up close and personal with Jon Sallinen
Ski freestyler Jon Sallinen of Finland crashed into a cameraman during one of his jumps in the halfpipe. Unfortunately, the crash ended Sallinen's chance of winning a medal. The good news is that both skier and cameraman emerged uninjured.
Image: Francisco Seco/AP/picture alliance
Quintuple twister
Qi Guangpu completed a Chinese freestyle skiing aerials double when he won the men’s individual gold on Wednesday, two days after Xu Mengtao won the women’s event. Qi, the former double world champion, delivered a spectacular quintuple twister and nailed the landing for 129 points to finish well clear. The 31-year-old had come in fourth, seventh and seventh in the last three Olympics.
Image: Lars Baron/Getty Images
Crucial crash
There was devastation for Japan in the women's speed skating as Nana Takagi (right) slipped during the team pursuit on February 15. Japan were on track for the gold medal before the incident, with Canada taking advantage to grab the win. Her teammates Miho Takagi (left) and Ayano Sato (center) waited for her before crossing the line together to win silver.
Image: imago images/Kyodo News
Dazzling debut
Kaillie Humphries on her way to winning the first-ever gold in the monobob on February 14. The discipline was added for the Beijing Olympics and is exclusive to female athletes. The individual version of bobsleigh joins the preexisting two-person and four-man events.
Image: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/picture alliance
Magnifique!
French duo Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron broke the world record to win the "medaille d'or" in the ice dance, or "patinage artistique," on February 14. The pair have known each other since the age of 9, when Papadakis' mother, an ice dancing instructor, paired them together at their ice skating club. Seventeen years later, they've made history in Beijing.
Image: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP
Brotherly love
Norwegian brothers Johannes Thingnes Boe and Tarjei Boe both finished on the podium for the 10 km biathlon sprint race on February 12. Johannes, left, took the gold as Tarjei took the bronze. "It's a fairy tale, to be on the podium with Johannes," said Tarjei. "It is big for me... there is a lot of joy but also relief... to share this together both as a team and for the rest of our lives."
Image: Stanislav Krasilnikov/ITAR-TASS/imago images
A legend bows out
Saying goodbye to a legend: Shaun White has been a snowboarding pioneer for the past two decades, from winning gold at the 2006 Turin Winter Games to inspiring the next generation of stars. His fifth and final Olympics ended in heartbreak, as a fall on his final run on February 11 saw him miss out on the podium. But he retires with three golds, and a legacy that can never been tarnished.
Image: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
Seemingly weightless
Figure skater Nathan Chen conjured up a performance as technically sound as it was artistically impressive in men's figure skating on February 10. The American executed moves of the highest difficulty one after another, remained almost flawless in all parts of his routine and claimed a richly deserved gold.
Image: Koji Ito/Yomiuri Shimbun/AP/picture alliance
Out of nowhere
An unbelievable comeback! Petra Vlhova could hardly come to terms with her gold medal win. After her first run in the slalom, the Slovak was only in seventh place and a chance at a medal seemed to be gone. But, with a flawless second run on February 9, she overtook all her rivals to her total surprise and delight.
"In America I'm American, in China I'm Chinese." Eileen Gu repeats this sentence like a mantra at almost every press conference. The 18-year-old is already the face of the Games, and was so even before the start in Beijing. Born and raised in the United States, the ski freestyler has been competing for China for some time and won gold in the big air competition in Beijing on February 8.
Image: Walter G. Arce Sr./Zuma/imago images
Say it ain't so
Surely, not again? After her early exit in the giant slalom, gold medal favorite Mikaela Shiffrin was also eliminated on February 8 in the slalom after just a few gates. In this tough moment, the 26-year-old American's mind turned to her father, who died in a tragic accident two years ago. "I would really like to call him now," Shiffrin said tearfully. "But he's not here anymore."
Image: Robert F. Bukaty/AP/dpa/picture alliance
Beware the bend
Even before the luge events begin, all the athletes tremble a little at the thought of the exit of the 13th bend. If you stray from the ideal line here, a fall is almost assured. That's exactly what happened to gold medal favorite Julia Taubitz. After setting a course record in the first run on February 7, she crashed at the key point in her second, and any chance of a medal fell away, too.
Image: Dmitri Lovetsky/AP/picture alliance
Sweeping all before them
"Piu, piu, piu" — "more, more, more" — Stefania Constantini called out to her partner, Amos Mosaner, again and again when she wanted him to sweep harder. The Italian pair set the standard in mixed-doubles curling on February 6, winning every game on their way to gold.
Image: Zhou Mi/Xinhua/imago images
Warming win
Pain or joy? It's not easy to tell Therese Johaug's prevailing emotion after her victory in the skiathlon. At the finish line, the Norwegian, who sprinted away from the competition in temperatures of -16 degrees Celsius (3 F), was certainly hurting at first, but the euphoria came soon after. The win on February 5 was her first individual Olympic victory and the first gold awarded in Beijing.
