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Grande Prairie connection to Winter Games team from Nigeria

Feb 16, 2018 | 4:30 AM

For the first time ever, athletes are representing the African country of Nigeria at the Winter Olympics, and the team has a connection to Grande Prairie.

Nigeria’s skeleton racer, Simidele Adeagbo, is using the sled and other equipment that was previously used by Swan City product Michelle Kelly.

Kelly says this came about after she did some coaching for some other competitors.

“I had met this athlete from Nigeria. She asked if I would take her for a track walk in Calgary. Then, it came up that she didn’t have any equipment, so I ended up (getting) all my equipment that I used to race on ready for her and getting it all together, getting her a racing suit, just trying to help out because she really had nobody and hadn’t really seen the sport.  I don’t know how much snow she’s ever seen.”

Kelly adds her protege has only been sliding for a few months but does come from a track and field background.

“She was a long jumper and triple jumper and just wanted to do something. For her, her story is more about being an inspiration to girls and boys out there, or adults even, to show that you can come from a nation that doesn’t have snow, let alone a skeleton track, and inspire people to want to achieve a goal just by setting your mind to it.”

Adeagbo is not only the first competitor from her country in skeleton but the first from the entire continent of Africa.

“When I started, we could hardly scrape together a few nations to compete in the women’s event. Now, we have athletes from almost every continent in the world and to finally have somebody from Africa is a pretty astonishing thing. For me to see her sliding in Calgary with my equipment and wearing my race suit when she didn’t really have anything, I felt really honoured I could help her out and be a part of her journey,” added Kelly.

The women’s skeleton competition started today. The medals will be decided tomorrow.  

Kelly competed in two Winter Olympics for Canada and was an alternate in 2006.