Akwasi Frimpong, a young and very vibrant personality hopes to compete in the Skeleton Event at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. This will make him the second Ghanaian at the Winter Games since Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong nicknamed the ‘Snow Leopard’ did so at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics competing in the Skiing events of Slalom and Giant Slalom.
With the Winter Games on the horizon and with little less than a month to go we caught up with Akwasi at his Utah home via Skype to talk about his mission.
up with Akwasi at his Utah home via Skype to talk about his mission.
African Sports Monthly (ASM): We will like you to educate our readers about Skeleton, so the first question is; What can you tell them about Skeleton as a sport?
Akwasi Frimpong: To describe it, it’s like laying on a crooked sheet on your belly with your chin about three inches above the ice going head first at 80-90 miles per hour. It’s like a roller coaster that you do have in your control sometimes. It is unlike Bobsledding which is higher off the ground. What we do in Skeleton is like the single version of Bobsledding but way lower to the surface and once you are off to the races it is sheer speed with lots of adrenaline.
To me sometimes it’s like going through a canyon on a motorcycle without being able to stop. This is the only time you are legally allowed to go fast, without a Cop stopping you.
ASM: So, is Skeleton actually a variation of Bobsledding?
Akwasi Frimpong, Contd from Page 23.s