Profile | Winter Olympics: from Hong Kong DJ to Jamaica’s first alpine skier, Benjamin Alexander is making history
- Not long ago you might have seen Alexander spinning records at Volar, Midnight & Co or Show Club
- Next month he will become the first athlete to represent Jamaica in alpine skiing after qualifying for the Beijing Winter Olympics
It wasn’t long ago you might have seen Benjamin Alexander spinning records at a nightclub in Hong Kong. Today it’s a very different story for the 38-year-old from Northampton.
Come next month Alexander will be the first and only athlete to represent Jamaica in alpine skiing at a Winter Olympics.
Alexander, who is of Jamaican heritage, only took up skiing in 2015, has no full time coach, but last week secured his qualification for the Beijing Games after finishing seventh in the giant slalom at the Cape Verde National Ski Championships in Liechtenstein.
His unlikely story is partly inspired by Jamaica’s legendary 1988 bobsleigh team, the first in history to take part in a Winter Olympics, and the inspiration behind Disney’s classic film Cool Runnings.
“Had it not been for that movie and my friends making jokes about me being like Cool Runnings, I don’t think this plan would have been concocted,” he told Sky News after his Olympic qualification.
What’s even more remarkable is the fact that Alexander first stepped on skis at the age of 32. It was back in 2018 as his interest in DJing was waning, Alexander was in search of something new.
He’d never been to an Olympic Games, but could imagine the vibe would be similar to working in a club. So he packed his winter woollies and headed to Pyeongchang.
There was no plan to see if the Olympics would be his next calling. He just took in events such as curling, lower-profile ice hockey matches and freestyle skiing, he did not even get to see any alpine skiing.