'Snow Leopard' 1st Winter Olympics athlete from Ghana

After exiting a plane in London in 2000, Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong marveled at a spectacle he had only seen on television or at the movies.

(Go ahead, insert joke here about his traveling 7,300 miles from his home country to Vancouver, where he hasn't seen any snow at these flake-free Games, either.)

A few years after almost frolicking in snow out of amazement - he remembers tasting it that day - the Ghanaian, 35, put on skis for the first time.

Ten years later, in one of the more astonishing stories of Olympic achievement, he is on the Ghana Winter Olympic team.

Actually, Nkrumah-Acheampong is the Ghana Winter Olympic team, the first from his sub-Saharian African nation of 23 million to ever compete in the Winter Games.

No surprise there, as winter doesn't factor into conversation in a place where the temperature has never dipped below 60 degrees. (It was a sticky 91 degrees - with a chilly low of 80 - in Accra, the Ghanaian capitol, on Friday.)

"There is such pride in being able to be the first to represent my country," the seemingly ever-smiling Nkrumah-Acheampong said. "I hope that my being an Olympian will open doors for others to try.

"I can imagine children now dreaming of skiing and winning the gold medal."

Nkrumah-Acheampong, who will compete in the men's slalom, does not have a shot at winning a medal in Whistler. Then again, the "Snow Leopard" as he has been dubbed by journalists and competitors, figures he has already won.

"Qualifying is my medal," he said. "That was my goal and thus my gold."

That's the true Olympic spirit.

Nkrumah-Acheampong didn't have a place to stay in Whistler before the Games began, but since has received donations to help his cause. He skis in a leopard-print ski uniform, and has formed a company (Leopard Sports Limited) that sells Ghana ski gear.

"I am hoping to ski as fast as I can and to represent my country with honor," he said.