He is Jamaica’s fastest athlete yet has more in common with Bob Marley than Usain Bolt.
Benjamin Alexander will reach speeds of up to 50mph when he competes in the giant slalom at these Winter Olympics.
Almost as quick as the former DJ went from mixing sets in the world’s most iconic venues to becoming the Caribbean island’s first alpine skier.
“Growing up music rather than sport was my go-to,” admitted Alexander. “Marley and all the reggae stuff.
“I didn’t ski until I was 32 and when I tried it for the first time I fell 27 times.”
If this sounds like an eccentric tale to file alongside Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards and Eric ‘the Eel’ Moussambani, the Northampton-born underdog won’t complain.
“I love stories that come out of the Olympics and create almost more buzz than some of the actual medalists,” he said.
“Mine though is a little different. Eddie borrowed pink goggles, a helmet, a ski suit, even the skis that he jumped in from other teams. I’m sponsored by one of the top brands on the planet.
“As for Eric, his only experience of swimming was in a 20-metre hotel pool back home in Equatorial Guinea. He’d never seen an Olympic-sized one and by his own admission he almost drowned.
“I’ve qualified to be here so my story is a bit different but I like to think I share the same ‘I’m going to do this no matter what anyone says’ tenacity of those guys and, of course, the Jamaican bobsleigh boys.”
He’ll still only have one pair of skis when he heads up the mountain on Sunday week, rather than the choice of 20 the biggest names have.
And having as a mentor Dudley Stokes, who drove the Cool Runnings sled on a journey that ended in Hollywood, adds an extra feel-good layer to his story.
The difference now, Alexander says, is that he has felt nothing but positivity and respect on his improbable mission.
“Two reasons for that,” he said. “The first is that I’m 6’6 and I don’t think people want to be too snooty to my face.
“The second is that the majority of my time pursuing this has been since the death of George Floyd.
“A lot of people now have a different opinion on situations and stories like mine, and say ‘this is cool, let’s support this guy’.
“There’s a direct correlation between George Floyd and me starting to get some really good press, press that was way beyond my skiing ability.”
Alexander insists he is “sleeping like a baby” now that he has escaped the stresses and strains of qualification and staying clear of Covid in the run-up to Beijing.
For all that he admits: “It’s really no joke going down these runs. It’s hard to convey how goddam scary those hills are.
“Try to imagine an ice rink on a 40 degree angle and you’ll get the idea. It’s insane.”
