Tadias Magazine

Above: Robel who goes by the nickname Beredoe Shartate
(Amharic for “Ice Slider”) finished the 15 kilometer course in
45 minutes, placing 93rd out of 95 at the Vancouver games

Richmond Times Dispatch
By MICHAEL PHILLIPS
Published: February 16, 2010
Ethiopia’s lone Olympian, cross country skier Robel Teklemariam, finished 93rd out of 95 skiers yesterday, completing the 15 kilometer course in 45 minutes, 18 seconds. He improved on his time from the Turin Olympics by two minutes against a tougher field. Teklemariam’s family was on hand for the competition. His mother, Yeshareg Demisse, runs The Nile restaurant, which serves Ethiopian food near the VCU campus. This was the second Olympic Games for Teklemariam, who finished 83rd out of 99 competitors in 2006 with a time of 47:53. Switzerland’s Dario Cologna finished in 33:36 to take home the gold medal. Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer won the silver, finishing 24.6 seconds behind Cologna, and Czech skier Lukas Bauer won the bronze to go with the silver medal he won in the 15-kilometer classical style race in Turin. Topping the list of United States finishers was James Southam in 48th place at 35:58. Teklemariam struggled to qualify for the Vancouver Games, criss-crossing Europe on trains while building up enough points through qualifying races to punch his ticket. He said he had less training time than he did before the Turin Games four years ago. Read more.

Related from Tadias:
Robel Teklemariam: Heading to the 2010 Winter Olympics

Watch Video: Meet Cross Country Skier Robel Teklemariam

New York Times Video:
Robel Teklemariam, the first Ethiopian Winter Olympian, discusses his path
to becoming a ski racer and his mission to represent Ethiopia in the 2006
Olympic Games. Click here to watch the video.