Timo Grönlund from Kite represented Bolivia at the Beijing Olympics. In principle, anyone can become an Olympic athlete as long as a suitable country is found.
Last over the weekend, Finns drank medal coffees again.
Iivo Niskanen had brought home the third consecutive Olympic win. Niskanen skied the fastest 15 kilometers in the traditional way. The victory was overwhelming, almost show-style, was described in the media.
Another Finn skied far behind Niskanen.
Eleven and a half minutes after arriving at Niskanen’s finish, the finish line crossed the finish line Timo Grönlund. He was 89th in the standings.
Grönlund represents Bolivia.
Grönlund has been skiing in the colors of a Latin American country for several years. At last year’s World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, Grönlund was 125th in the sprint qualifiers.
Grönlund, the first Olympic skier in Bolivian history, came in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Grönlund placed 105th in the 15-kilometer freestyle race.
Multi the athlete represents at the Olympics other than his country of birth. This has been the case for a long time. In Beijing, for example, China is represented by an American-born figure skater Zhu Yi. A snowboarder born in the United States Louie Vito again switched to the Italian team, apparently to secure entry to the Olympics for a long time.
There are several similar examples. For some, it’s about opportunism. Others feel deprived of adequate support from the species federation in their home country. Many can experience loyalty to a country with which the family has close ties.
In Beijing, the U.S.-born freestyle skiing star in particular has made headlines Eileen Gu, 18, representing China. Gu had already won gold and silver in the competition at the time of writing this story.
In the United States, the right-wing Fox News channel has set Gu for betraying his country. Gu himself has said he wants to act as a unifying factor between the two countries.
Timo Grönlund is quite exceptional in that he is not a professional athlete. A fit enthusiast, of course. He also has no family background in Bolivia. Grönlund’s spouse, on the other hand, is Bolivian.
The man, baptized in the “Bolivian Timo” media, has given some interviews over the years. A few years ago, during the 2018 Olympics, Grönlund told Ilta-Sanomat that “there has been little skiing since high school”.
It has not prevented Grönlund from competing on the world’s biggest stage.
In the Olympics, you can compete in the ranks of the country of which you are a citizen. Grönlund acquired Bolivian citizenship a year before the South Korean Olympics.
Once citizenship is acquired, other requirements are species-specific.
Cross-country skiing has a complex system in which athletes collect the required number of FIS points in various competitions.
Grönlund has twice collected the necessary points to enter the competition. Since then, the Bolivian Ski Association has selected him as a candidate. There don’t seem to be any other offerings. According to Grönlund, his wife has said that in Bolivia his race has not been able to be watched, at least on television.
Greenland the example shows that anyone can, in principle, realize their dream of entering the Olympics as long as the right conditions are met.
Must be a citizen of the country they represent. The country is also likely to be one that belongs to the International Federation of the Species.
Must meet federation-specific requirements. And most of all, you have to find a suitable country.
Countries have quotas. Finland and other ski countries will attract many skiers to the competition based on their success. But all countries in the International Ski Federation are allowed to send at least one female and one male skier. The prerequisite, of course, is that there is at least one female and male skier in the country who meets the rather loose criteria based on FIS points.
So if you want to be an Olympic skier, you have to find a country where there is no intrusion into the Games.
Latin American countries have not traditionally performed well in skiing. In Niskanen’s gold skiing, Colombia was the last to reach the finish line Carlos Andres Quintanaabout 13.5 minutes after Niskanen.
Venezuela, for example, has also been the stewards of the Games Eduardo Arteagawho, as a child, did not know that he could also ski uphill, as well as a countryman Adrian Solanowho had never skied in the snow before the Lahti World Championship Qualifiers 2017.
Greenland time in Beijing 15 kilometers was 49 minutes 27 seconds.
How would it have done, for example, in Finnish cross-country skiing, where there are another hundred participants?
In cross-country skiing, times cannot be compared because the weather, altitude and piste profile are different. However, conclusions can be drawn from Grönlund’s difference – 11 minutes 32 seconds – to the top of the race, Iivo Niskanen.
Director of the Finnish Olympic Committee’s top sports unit Mika Lehtimäki estimates that such a big neck at the top would mean that he would be among the last in Finnish cross-country skiing.
However, Lehtimäki points out that it is good to have a sense of proportionality here as well.
“If you or I went skiing, our necks in Iivo would be half an hour. That there are no tourists at all. ”
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