Jamaica’s Alexander, US skier Nyman address Olympic controversy

Benjamin Alexander will become Jamaica’s first Olympic alpine ski racer, despite controversy, while veteran U.S. skier Steven Nyman gets the short end of the stick in Olympic qualification

Benjamin Alexander will serve as Jamaica’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony in Beijing on Friday night, poised to make history as the first alpine skier to race for the Caribbean nation at the Olympic Winter Games.

Following in the footsteps of the first Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, it appeared as a fun, inspiring, feel-good story. However, it isn’t without controversy.

The outgoing Jamaican skier, who possesses dual citizenship with the UK, qualified for the Beijing 2022 Games during two days of national championship races organized in Malbun, Liechtenstein, Jan. 12-13. Previously, he had also competed at national championship races in Kolasin, Montenegro, which were also organized by the Jamaican Ski Federation.

Soon after, accusations and evidence — published by Ski Racing Media and several other European news outlets — surfaced that Alexander, along with the Jamaican Ski Federation, manipulated race results and compensated racers to compete and underperform. If true, it was an easier route to the requisite 160 FIS points and the minimum Olympic qualification standard. Alexander is scheduled to race in the Olympic men’s giant slalom on Sunday, Feb. 13.

The 39-year-old soon-to-be Olympian denies any improprieties pertaining to the qualification races but admits that he has responded to questions in a pending FIS investigation. Alexander insists that he has played by the rules.

“All I can tell you is that, on the request of these established nations, FIS has checked and checked and triple-checked, and there is no foul play,” Alexander tells Ski Racing Media. “We have been under intense scrutiny, and every time FIS has said the races (were held) exactly by the rules and we have double checked that T’s were crossed and I’s were dotted,” he said.

According to FIS, the investigation is still ongoing:

“FIS is reviewing three Alpine Skiing qualifying events for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 after some suspicions were raised about some results. The investigation cannot be completed before the Beijing 2022 sports entry deadline, and could impact some qualified athletes for Beijing 2022. Therefore FIS requested that the IOC increase the Alpine Skiing quota by four. The IOC has grated this extraordinary request and FIS will provide a full report of the investigation’s outcome as soon as it is completed. While the investigation is ongoing, FIS cannot comment any further nor provide specific details.”

— Official FIS statement

While some of Alexander’s critics concede the possibility that no FIS or IOC rules were broken, the story still raises questions about the use of loopholes to cleverly take advantage of a flawed qualification system — one that most agree needs repair. 

American Steven Nyman, who has been notably denied a chance to compete at his fourth Olympics due to a more limited Olympic quota system, says if proper evidence exists, FIS needs to act immediately.

“The Olympics are about every nation competing, and every nation should be allowed to compete if they’ve done it right, unless there is damning evidence,” Nyman said. “I want to protect the integrity of the sport. If nations are bending the rules to get in, then that should not be allowed. If the evidence is strong enough, I feel like FIS should do the right thing.”

In an interview with Ski Racing Media, retired American racer Ted Ligety agreed with his former teammate: “I think the whole thing was probably good intentions that, unfortunately, were not well thought out. I hope it’s a mistake, and they didn’t really analyze what the numbers would be at the end of the day,” said Ligety.

‘Storm in a teacup’

For Beijing 2022, the overall number of alpine skiers has been reduced to 306, out of which a maximum of 153 men can compete — a reduction of roughly 30 spots from 2018. As a result, more nations are set to compete as quota spots for countries with less or no medal-winning history have been allocated. In addition to Jamaica, racers from Saudi Arabia, India, Brazil, Ghana, Haiti, and the Philippines will participate in China.

“The minimum criteria is not competitive,” said Alexander. “The IOC mandate of 160 FIS points, by definition, is 16-20 seconds behind the leader. It’s not competitive at all. But now in this situation, we are competitive for quota spaces, which I’ll call ‘a storm in a teacup.’

“It’s been pitching the small nations against the established nations, who feel like they’ve lost quota spaces,” he said.

“FIS were expecting about 72 or 73 countries to compete, but it is 85. And the loser (due to) 12 or 13 more new countries coming to the Olympics, it’s the top-tier nations that want to send 22 athletes,” Alexander said. 

The races in Liechtenstein and Montenegro, which served as pathways for many so-called “exotic nations” to qualify, have become contentious, especially with many alpine strongholds, such as the U.S. (six men) and Italy (seven men), sending smaller-than-usual teams. As a result, a group of nations banded together and filed a formal protest with the FIS and IOC. The group was ultimately appeased to a certain extent, gaining four additional quota spots, with Austria coming out as the big winner, earning two of those spots and achieving the maximum Olympic roster. France and Germany also picked up a spot each. The U.S. and Italy were less fortunate.

‘Breaks my (expletive) heart’

Nyman had aspirations to compete at his fourth and final Olympic Games but didn’t make the cut along with U.S. teammate Jared Goldberg and Italian Mattia Casse, to name a few. The soon-to-be 40-year-old Park City racer concedes that he has struggled with his performance this season, on the comeback trail from injury; however, he has still scored points in six of 13 World Cup races and could fare well on an unknown course in China.

“What is frustrating is the timeliness of how this went down and not enough people are talking about this,” Nyman says. “This is affecting people right now, and I don’t have a next time and that’s what hard. … Part of the issue is that they issued the spots to the other countries, but not the full amount.”

Alexander, who has skied with Nyman in Park City, says it is very unfortunate how everything has developed.

“It breaks my (expletive) heart that I was on this mission and Steve and I were talking about getting to go to the Olympics. They’ve been my biggest supporters and now we’re in the situation of being pitted against each other,” Alexander said.

After the Beijing Olympics, Alexander says he plans on continuing to help minorities and inspire non-traditional winter-sports nations, hopefully as president of the Jamaican Ski Federation, with a mission towards Milano-Cortina 2026 and beyond.

“It has now become my personal goal to bring a half-dozen (Jamaican) athletes, whether on skis or snowboards to the next Winter Games and then keep expanding that,” Alexander said. “I am also super excited about bringing 20 new countries to the Olympics in 2026.”

Nyman’s racing future

At 39, Nyman’s future appears uncertain as he missed the opportunity to race in Beijing, which he admits will sting for quite some time. However, he says he is optimistic to strap on the boards in Kvitfjell, Norway, in March.

“I don’t think I earned the Olympics, but in Kitzbuehel, I finally felt comfortable, aligned with my equipment, ready to push, ready to go,” Nyman says.

“China is an unknown course with an unknown playing field and with everything I figured out with my equipment, I was excited for a better performance,” he said. “(But) these rules are put in place … we didn’t meet those marks, and that’s unfortunate.”

Nyman said he still hopes to be able to to compete at the 2023 world championships in Meribel-Courchevel, France. 

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