Philip Boit

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Philip Boit at Holmenkollen

Philip Kimely Boit (usually Philip Boit for short , sometimes Phillip Boit; born December 12, 1971 in Eldoret , Kenya ) is a former cross-country skier . He was the first Kenyan ever to take part in the Winter Olympics, a total of three times, and thus has an exceptional position as a pioneer. He is nephew Mike Boits .

Life

Boit grew up in the Kenyan city of Eldoret . His uncle Mike Boit won bronze over 800 meters as a world class athlete at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich . As a role model, Philip also became a competitive athlete over 800 meters. With 1: 46.7 minutes he achieved a best performance at an internationally high level, but not the best in the world. When an American sporting goods manufacturer was looking for Kenyans to go cross-country skiing , Boit said yes, even though he had never seen snow in his life. During his first training session in Finland in 1996 , he suffered frostbite, but remained loyal to the marketing project.

At his first Olympic participation in 1998 in Nagano , he started as an outsider over 10 km and reached the goal in 92nd and last with over 20 minutes behind and eight minutes after the penultimate. Winner Bjørn Dæhlie waited in the finish area to be one of the first to congratulate him and encourage him to keep going. As a result, Boit received advertising contracts and invitations to talk shows. In 1999 he was the first African to take part in a World Ski Championships .

He traveled to the Olympic Games in 2002 with more ambitions and did not want to be last. He also succeeded as 64th of 69 starters in the sprint. At his third Olympic participation in Turin in 2006, he was the flag bearer of the Kenyan team and at the same time their only member. Robel Teklemariam from Ethiopia thwarted his goal of becoming the best runner outside of the classic winter sports countries , who was 83rd in the 15 km cross-country skiing eight places ahead of him.

Philip Boit gave his son the first name Daehlie. He still has a deep friendship with the exceptional Norwegian athlete. The name of his second youngest daughter Olympia was also inspired by sport. He regards it as his job to bring winter sports closer to his compatriots.

Quotes

“I am proud to be a pioneer. Even if I can't win, my participation is a win. For me - and for my country. "

- Philip Boit

"Calm down, Philip, it's just snow."

- Boit's trainer when he first saw snow in Helsinki

Movies

  • 1999 Olympic Glory (documentary)

See also

Web links

Commons : Philip Boit  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Philip Boit, Kenya's first winter olympian. olympic.org ( IOC ), December 11, 2017, accessed February 27, 2018 .
  2. ^ Winter Olympic Games: Kenyans take up the running on the snow trails. (English). The Independent , January 21, 1998, accessed February 27, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b Legendary cross-country skiing. (Page 4 of 8) 1992/1998 - Björn Daehlie. Sportschau , February 23, 2018, accessed on February 24, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Olympic exotic species, outsiders, loners and lucky ones. (Page 9 of 11) 1998 Nagano: The first Kenyan to compete in the Winter Olympics. Sportschau , February 23, 2018, accessed on February 24, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Jens Hungermann: Proud snow pioneer from Kenya. Die Welt , February 6, 2006, accessed February 24, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Marc Engelhardt: "Calm down, it's just snow". Tagesschau (ARD) , February 8, 2006, archived from the original ; accessed on February 24, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Boit, Philip
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boit, Philip Kimely; Boit, Phillip Kimely
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Kenyan cross-country skier
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Eldoret , Kenya