The freedom of flying over the snow

The Winter Olympics start in China this week, and Cyprus will be taking part with one athlete. ALIX NORMAN meets the island’s slalom skiing hope

Jamaica has a bobsleigh team. Malaysia’s first figure skater trained in a mall. And the only Brazilian cross-country skier learnt his craft by rollerskating through the slums of Sao Paolo. It takes a unique athlete to pursue a cold-weather sport in a hot country. But this February, local skier Yiannos Kouyoumdjian will do just that, when he skis for Cyprus at the Beijing Winter Olympics…

The only Cypriot athlete attending the Games, Nicosia resident Yiannos is just 25, and currently a Business Administration student at university. He’s calm, well-spoken, and down-to-earth; humble and charming in equal measure. And he’s quietly proud to be representing his hot weather country at the world’s biggest cold weather sporting event…

“Cyprus is a summer island,” he smiles. “We’re known for our sea and sun. Yes, there’s snow here in the winter – but to really compete against world-class athletes, that takes a whole other level of commitment. It’s a journey of many years.”

Yiannos began skiing at the age of three on the slopes of the Troodos mountains. “And then, we’d sometimes go to Austria or Lebanon to ski. My grandmother was the first in the family to love the sport,” he recalls. “She and my grandfather lived for a time in Troodos village, and she learnt to ski there. And she taught her children, my mother and uncle…”

Both Yiannos’s mother – who skied for Cyprus in the Lake Placid and Sarajevo Olympics in 1980 and 1984 – and his uncle – who competed in the Games in Calgary in 1988, and in Albertville in 1992 – were Olympic athletes in their day. “My mother was 15 when she went to the Olympics for the first time,” he reveals. “She was just half-way through her teens, and already representing Cyprus abroad!”

At 25, Yiannos is a decade older, but he’s proud to be continuing the family legacy, even if it’s taken inordinate “time, effort and sacrifice. Getting to the Olympics doesn’t happen overnight,” he laughs. “It’s not something you just wake up and decide to do, especially if you live in a country with shorter slopes and only a couple of months of snow each year. It’s endless hard work, and dedication…”

Yiannos, who has skied for the Cyprus Ski Team since he was 15, has – he estimates – spent more of the last decade abroad than at home. “If you want to compete internationally, you’re going to have to travel – not just for the races, but also for the training. I’m always travelling,” he acknowledges. “Even in the summer.”

While his friends spend summers on the local beaches, Yiannos heads off to northern Europe to train on glaciers in Austria, or in indoor ski centres in Germany and the Netherlands. “Even in July and August, I’m training,” he smiles. “Skiing in the morning, conditioning in the gym in the afternoon.”

Along with a good diet – “it’s not like I can eat McDonalds every day,” he grins – and excellent equipment – “I use Elan skis; they’re very good for competitions” – physical preparation is a huge part of Yiannos’s schedule. “Races last from December to March, depending on snowfall. But for months before that, I’m always in the gym, building a sound physical base that will see me through race season.

Already a veteran of competition skiing, Yiannos placed 36^th out of more than 100 world-class athletes at the World Ski Championships in Cortina, Italy last year. But he’s quick to note that many skiers, even those in the top tier, don’t always finish the race…

“Slalom and Giant Slalom are my events,” he explains. “They’re more technical than Downhill and Super G, which are based on speed. You have to pass through the gates in exactly the right order, and everything from wind shear to cloud cover can play a part. So you can have the best training and preparation and equipment in the world, and still get a Did Not Finish if you fall or miss a gate.”

The skier, who will be competing in the Men’s Giant Slalom on February 13, and the Men’s Slalom on February 16, is delightfully humble about his Olympic expectations. “I’m competing against athletes from Austria and Italy who literally grew up on the piste; you can’t beat that experience. So it would be IMPOSSIBLE – write that in capitals,” he laughs – “for me to get a medal.

“Honestly, I’m just excited to be going. I know I’ll be in a closed loop because of Covid, but I’ve never been to China before and I’ve never been to the Olympics. I’m not even nervous yet – that happens the night before and when I’m in the starting gates! Just being there, being a part of the Games, being able to compete and represent my country, is enough. I’m hoping for a good run on the day, and that I can do my best for Cyprus and for the people who supported me on my journey.”

Coaches Milan Matic and Doros Christodoulou – “both excellent coaches; really superb”– the Cyprus Ski Federation, its President Dinos Lefkaritis and its Secretary Christina Christoforou, as well as the Cyprus Olympic Committee, have all helped the young athlete on his road to Beijing. “Along with my family, of course. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my father’s patience and understanding, and my mother’s love for skiing.

“You know, I travel a lot. I get to meet amazing people from very different cultures, and I’m privileged to ski in many of the world’s most beautiful locations. But I still enjoy taking time off to ski with my mum. We both love the freedom that skiing affords – you’re flying over the snow, breathing in fresh mountain air, carving through the powder – there’s nothing else like it. It’s a real passion that, I guess, is in my DNA. I may be from a summer island, but I’m a skier at heart!”

To follow Yiannos’s Olympic journey, visit the Facebook page ‘CYPRUS ALIPINE SKI TEAM’