World News for Students of English

27-01-2022 15:00

Benjamin Alexander, former DJ and Jamaica’s first Olympic skier, is going to compete at the Beijing Winter Olympics, just six years after he started the sport.

Despite such short experience, the 38-year-old British-born athlete achieved the minimum qualifying standard this month, and Dudley Stokes is mentoring him.

Dudley Stokes is a former bobsledder whose team was in four Olympics between 1988 and 1998.

Alexander is ranked 4722^nd in the world; however, he benefited from the International Olympic Committee that gave all nations a chance to reach the Games in each sport on lower qualifying standards.  Alexander admits that he is nowhere near the same skills as very talented skiers; however, he is still much better than an average skier, and he says that the qualifying standards exist for a reason.

The athlete’s goal is to show other Jamaicans that even people who don’t start skiing at the age of two can qualify for the biggest sporting event in the world.

Difficult words: qualifying standard (a goal someone must meet to get to do something), mentor (to advise or train someone, usually a younger colleague), benefit (to receive help or an advantage).

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