Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong (born 19 December, 1974) nicknamed “The Snow Leopard”, is a Ghanaian skiier and is the first person from Ghana to take part in the Winter Olympics, at the 2010 Games held in Vancouver, Canada, taking part in the slalom. He finished 47th out of 102 participants of whom 48 finished.
Nkrumah-Acheampong was born in Glasgow, Scotland, where his father was working towards a doctorate. As a child, he moved away from Glasgow to Ghana, to a town an hour away from Accra, the capital. He became a safari guide and later moved to England in 2000. In 2002, he took a job as a receptionist at the Xscape skiing centre in Milton Keynes, where he began to practice skiing.
In 2005, Nkrumah-Acheampong attempted to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. However, he failed to arrive at the qualifying stages being held in Iran because his aeroplane flight was grounded in Amsterdam in the Netherlands because of ice on the wings.In 2009, he successfully managed to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, scoring 137.5 International Ski Federation points, within the qualifying range of 120-140 points. Nkrumah-Acheampong took part in the men’s slalom where he finished 47th out of 102 competitors, 48 of whom finished.
Nkrumah-Acheampong is supporting projects to promote winter sports in Ghana. He set up the Ghanaian Winter Olympic Association,and has secured government backing to build Ghana’s first artificial ski slope, which is planned to be built in the Akuapem Hills, Mamfe, and are planned to be finished in time for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Nkrumah-Acheampong is also supporting a range of charities, including Sabre, a British charity working in Ghana which builds schools in deprived areas. He also donates any spare sponsorship money to a charity helping to save the snow leopard from extinction.
Canadian musician Ashley MacIsaac also wrote a charity single, “Dreams”, to benefit Nkrumah-Acheampong and his charitable efforts.In addition to Canadian musicians Matthew Harder of the band House of Doc and Geoffrey Kelly, Vince Ditrich and Tobin Frank of the band Spirit of the West, Nkrumah-Acheampong himself participated in the recording, playing traditional Ghanaian percussion. The single, credited to The Parallel Band, was released to iTunes on February 19, 2010.
Nkrumah-Acheampong is married to his wife Sena, who works as a secretary at the Open University in Milton Keynes. They have two children, daughter Ellice and son Jason. He is not related to the former Ghanian president Kwame Nkrumah.
Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong will be training at the Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island for the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics from Jan 31 to Feb 9th in Vancouver, British Columbia.
