When you think of Jamaica, pictures of alpine skiing are not what you likely imagine. Errol Kerr, son of an American mother and a Jamaican Father, has made his dream of competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 a reality. Errol feels he is representing the true spirit of his father’s native Jamaica in freestyle skiing, as one of 32 skiers in the world who qualified for the games. “This is something I set out to do a long time ago. This is the land of my father. This is my DNA” said Kerr.
Kerr has faced challenges most world class athletes never worry about. Errol fell well below the $15,000 a month needed to train in the Southern Hemisphere during the past summer, but he didn’t let that slow him down. His mother a former alpine skier worked with him on his starts out of homemade gates at their home in Truckee, CA, and a race track was built for him at Alpine Meadows where he grew up skiing.
Errol placed ninth out of 32 Freestyle skiers at the Olympic event, making him a serious contender. At age 23, he is considered young for his sport and people are taking notice of the skier dressed in green and yellow racing down the hill.