The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, was all sorts of historic for Africa. Some of the athletes who proudly represented the eight countries that competed in the games, namely Nigeria, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa, Morocco and Togo broke glass ceilings with historic firsts.
Notable among them was Nigeria’s female bobsled team who became Africa’s first ever bobsled team to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Ghana’s Akwasi Frimpong and Nigeria’s Simidele Adeagbo also became Africa’s first male and female skeleton athletes to feature at the Winter Olympics. Kenya’s Sabrina Simader and Eritrea’s Shannon-Ogbani Abeda also made history as the first alpine skiers to represent their respective countries.
With preparations underway for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, expectations are high and more African athletes are looking to qualify and compete.
It is in this quest that Ghanaian fitness instructor Jennifer Boateng is looking to add her name in the history books. Recruited by Akwasi Frimpong, Jennifer is poised to become Africa’s first ever monobob athlete to feature at the Winter Olympics should she qualify.
Women’s Monobob is new to the winter competition as it was announced last year that it will be added to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games programme as the sixth discipline. The others are Women’s Skeleton, Men’s Skeleton, Women’s Monobob, 2-Woman Bobsleigh, 2-Man Bobsleigh and 4-Man Bobsleigh.
Take a look at photos of her training at the Calgary Olympic Bobsled track in Canada. Wishing her the very best of luck!
