African Athletes' Results at the Winter Olympics

Believe it or not, there were actually quite a few African's competing at the Winter Olympics in Torino. With the Olympics wrapped up, I was curious about how they did. It's not that easy to find information on these athletes due to the lack of interest by the mainstream media. James Martin our own Olympic blogger in Torino was having a hard time locating any African athlete. At last, on Thursday he managed to find the one, and so far only, African press conference with Madagascar's Mathieu Razanakolona (see photo).

Mathieu raced the Giant Slalom and placed 39th out of 41 competitors (who finished). He also competed in the Men's Slalom but didn't finish. Yet his main reason for competing in the Olympics was to raise the profile of his home country. Madagascar is a beautiful country to visit, but very poor indeed. Mathieu and his brother (also an athlete) have started their own non-profit organisation called rAzAlpin.org which will raise funds for various development projects in Madagascar. Please visit their site and support them to make their Olympic dream come true.

As for the other African athletes who competed, here are their results:

• South Africa sent three athletes. Tyler Botha came a respectable 21st out of 27 competitors in the men's bob skeleton.

  Alex Heath, Africa's best Alpine skier, competed in the men's Giant Slalom and ranked 27 out of 41 competitors who finished the race, an excellent result. Heath also competed in the Super G where he finished 50 out of 56. He didn't finish his third race, the men's combined.

  Oliver Kraas is a cross country skier, he finished 57 out of 80 in Men's sprint; but failed to finish in the Men's 15km race.

• Algeria sent two athletes to the winter Olympics. Christelle Laura Douibi is Africa's only female representative at the Winter Olympics. She finished last in the Women's Super G and in the Women's Downhill. But she finished (unlike many athletes) and it was a valiant effort.

  Noureddine Bentoumi is a cross-country skier and he raced in the Men's 50km but didn't finish the race.

• Ethiopia's first winter Olympian, cross country skier Robel Teklemariam, had a nasty start to his games. He was suspended (along with 11 others) for 5 days because his blood count was abnormally high. Luckily he still got to race in the men's 15km and ended up a very respectable 84th in a field of 99. Robel's achievements don't end there. He managed to successfully start the Ethiopian National Ski Federation and give his country some positive press.

• Kenya's 3rd time Olympian Phillip Boit didn't get the result he wanted this time around. He was hoping to finish in the middle of the pack but he ended up 92nd out of 99 in the Men's 15km. Regardless, getting to participate in 3 Olympics is a truly great achievement.

Photo of Madagascar's Mathieu Razanakolona by James Martin

Congratulations to all the athletes and we look forward to more Africans competing in Vancouver.