first ever thai winter olympian go thailnd go

[me123]

i just found out that this fellow competed in salt lake city usa the last winter games


Thai skier is an unlikely but fired-up Winter Olympian

By Jesse Hyde
Deseret News Ollympic specialist

SOLDIER HOLLOW — Asking a Norwegian to describe snow is like asking a Utahn to recall his first experience with dirt.

Thailand's Prawat Nagvajara skis in the men's 30K cross country race at Soldier Hollow Saturday.

Tom Smart, Deseret News
One Olympic cross country skier from Norway didn't even unstrap his skis to eat lunch as a child, and another skied to and from school.
Thailand's Prawat Nagvajara is different.
He clearly remembers running out of an English-as-a-second-language class as a teenager in Boston to touch snow for the first time — on his tongue, in his hands and across his face.
"Everything was quiet. Snow is so peaceful," he said. "It's amazing how snow muffles everything."
From the way Nagvajara describes snow, to the way he skis — slowly — to his age, the 43-year-old cross country skier is the most unlikely of Winter Olympians.
Born in Bangkok, Thailand, where the temperature rarely dips below 70 degrees, Nagvajara had never seen snow until that day in Boston more than 20 years ago. He discovered cross country skiing in the backwoods of Massachusetts as a college student and began racing a few years ago.
On Friday night the computer engineering professor from Philadelphia's Drexel University carried the Thai flag alone into Olympic Stadium, becoming the first Winter Olympian from his country. Somewhere, rows and rows up, his wife nudged their 2-year-old son awake to chant "Go, Thailand, go."
It was the culmination of what Nagvajara called a "big crazy Olympic dream," which he had shared with few in case it never happened.
Saturday morning those fears nearly materialized. Just hours before the men's 30K mass start began, Olympic officials told Nagvajara he couldn't compete because he hadn't properly registered with the body that governs the sport.
His coach, a Bulgarian woman who lives in Vermont, pleaded his case before an Olympic jury that eventually allowed him to race.
He arrived at Soldier Hollow one hour before the race, did a brief warmup and then made his way to the starting line 20 minutes early.
"I was the first one there. I didn't want to be late for that," he said. "At first I felt like I didn't belong. I looked at these guys 100 times better than me. But I love the sport."
Nagvajara's goal was to ski twice around the course without being lapped, but on the hill coming into the stadium he fell and lost his wind. As he finished his first lap, nearly three minutes behind the pack, a crowd of 12,000 stood and cheered for him.
"I wasn't sure if they were cheering for someone else. I thought I was about to get lapped," he said. "I was worried that I would fall down in front of the crowd and trip (the leader). I just wanted to get out of the way and fall quietly."
On the next hill Nagvajara withdrew from the race. His coach told him he started out too fast, trying to keep up with the pace set by eventual gold medalist Johann Muehlegg of Spain.
Nagvajara thought of those cheering in the stands, the superior athletes who hadn't qualified, and the people of Thailand. He worried he had let them all down.
But to many watching Saturday's race, Nagvajara embodied the Olympic spirit as an athlete competing for the sake of competition.
"The crowd was so supportive," said Nagvajara's wife Gina, a former hockey player and speedskater. "They didn't care what he looked like, or that he was in last, they were just happy he was there."



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[Mav]

Originally Posted by me123

Thai skier is an unlikely but fired-up Winter Olympian

By Jesse Hyde
Deseret News Ollympic specialist

SOLDIER HOLLOW — Asking a Norwegian to describe snow is like asking a Utahn to recall his first experience with dirt.

Thailand's Prawat Nagvajara skis in the men's 30K cross country race at Soldier Hollow Saturday.

Tom Smart, Deseret News
One Olympic cross country skier from Norway didn't even unstrap his skis to eat lunch as a child, and another skied to and from school.
Thailand's Prawat Nagvajara is different.
He clearly remembers running out of an English-as-a-second-language class as a teenager in Boston to touch snow for the first time — on his tongue, in his hands and across his face.
"Everything was quiet. Snow is so peaceful," he said. "It's amazing how snow muffles everything."
From the way Nagvajara describes snow, to the way he skis — slowly — to his age, the 43-year-old cross country skier is the most unlikely of Winter Olympians.
Born in Bangkok, Thailand, where the temperature rarely dips below 70 degrees, Nagvajara had never seen snow until that day in Boston more than 20 years ago. He discovered cross country skiing in the backwoods of Massachusetts as a college student and began racing a few years ago.
On Friday night the computer engineering professor from Philadelphia's Drexel University carried the Thai flag alone into Olympic Stadium, becoming the first Winter Olympian from his country. Somewhere, rows and rows up, his wife nudged their 2-year-old son awake to chant "Go, Thailand, go."
It was the culmination of what Nagvajara called a "big crazy Olympic dream," which he had shared with few in case it never happened.
Saturday morning those fears nearly materialized. Just hours before the men's 30K mass start began, Olympic officials told Nagvajara he couldn't compete because he hadn't properly registered with the body that governs the sport.
His coach, a Bulgarian woman who lives in Vermont, pleaded his case before an Olympic jury that eventually allowed him to race.
He arrived at Soldier Hollow one hour before the race, did a brief warmup and then made his way to the starting line 20 minutes early.
"I was the first one there. I didn't want to be late for that," he said. "At first I felt like I didn't belong. I looked at these guys 100 times better than me. But I love the sport."
Nagvajara's goal was to ski twice around the course without being lapped, but on the hill coming into the stadium he fell and lost his wind. As he finished his first lap, nearly three minutes behind the pack, a crowd of 12,000 stood and cheered for him.
"I wasn't sure if they were cheering for someone else. I thought I was about to get lapped," he said. "I was worried that I would fall down in front of the crowd and trip (the leader). I just wanted to get out of the way and fall quietly."
On the next hill Nagvajara withdrew from the race. His coach told him he started out too fast, trying to keep up with the pace set by eventual gold medalist Johann Muehlegg of Spain.
Nagvajara thought of those cheering in the stands, the superior athletes who hadn't qualified, and the people of Thailand. He worried he had let them all down.
But to many watching Saturday's race, Nagvajara embodied the Olympic spirit as an athlete competing for the sake of competition.
"The crowd was so supportive," said Nagvajara's wife Gina, a former hockey player and speedskater. "They didn't care what he looked like, or that he was in last, they were just happy he was there."



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What's his odds Diz ?

[steve@thaib]

Originally Posted by Mav

What's his odds Diz ?

About the same as our very own 'Eddie the Eagle', or that Jamaican swimmer, remember him?

[IRISH JONNY]

Originally Posted by steve@thaib

About the same as our very own 'Eddie the Eagle', or that Jamaican swimmer, remember him?

IS THAT THE GUT THAT FINISHED ABOUT 5 MINS AFTER THE REST......HE BECAME FAMOUS FOR THAT........BUT I THOUGHT HE WAS FROM SOME PART OF AFRICA NOT JAMACIA......
IJ

[steve@thaib]

Originally Posted by IRISH JONNY

IS THAT THE GUT THAT FINISHED ABOUT 5 MINS AFTER THE REST......HE BECAME FAMOUS FOR THAT........BUT I THOUGHT HE WAS FROM SOME PART OF AFRICA NOT JAMACIA......
IJ

Sorry, you're right, he was African. He qualified without any competition, the whole place watched him nearly drown.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by steve@thaib

About the same as our very own 'Eddie the Eagle', or that Jamaican swimmer, remember him?

Yes l remember them both......and Aussie Dollar especially remembers Eddie The Eagle.

[aussie dollar]

yea mav i do remember him
how did the thai olympican go any news

[Petter]

Official Results: Cross-Country Skiing
Men's 15 km Classical:

NAGVAJARA Prawat was no 97 of 97 starters
He was 29 min behind the winner.

http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/CC...CCM015101.html

[aussie dollar]

well i guess finishing is a great thing also,competing is also what the olympics are about.

[Petter]

http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/ATH/101545.html

He is born in 58 so he is not a kid anymore

[dizbuster]

Britain had "Eddie the Eagle" a few years ago, so I suppose Thailand is entitled to "Terry the Thai'erd"