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OREM — Another Utah athlete is getting ready for the Winter Olympics — but not for Team USA. Instead, Akwasi Frimpong will be representing his home country of Ghana.
Frimpong has been working toward the Olympics for 15 years. In the upcoming Winter Games, he’ll be the only skeleton athlete to represent the country in the Olympics.
“I wouldn’t say there is pressure, but obviously the whole world is watching you and everybody in Ghana is going to watch you," Frimpong said with a laugh. "And actually, I’m the only male skeleton athlete for the whole continent of Africa — which is 1.2 billion people, so talk about pressure.”
Frimpong has spent a lot of time training at Utah Olympic Park. He graduated from Utah Valley University in 2014 and is still involved with the school as a member of the alumni board of directors.
Frimpong said he’s learned a lot from his time at the university, and on Wednesday, he paid UVU president Matthew Holland a visit before heading to Pyeongchang for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Holland gladly greeted Frimpong and told him he was proud of him.
“We talk at UVU all the time about the core of our core is student success,” Holland said.
And as Frimpong prepares for the competition awaiting him in South Korea, his only plan is “to do the best I can.”
He also offered some advice to anyone hoping to achieve their dreams:
“If you work hard and come out of your comfort zone, if you believe in yourself and you persist and have discipline, … a lot of things can happen and I want people to dare to dream,” he said.
