Akwasi Frimpong

Akwasi Frimpong (born February 11, 1986) is a Dutch-Ghanaian runner and bobsled brakeman.

Biography

Childhood

Frimpong spent his first eight years in a small one-room home in the village of Kumasi, Ghana. His grandmother Minka raised him and nine other grandchildren. Though they all slept on the ground and his grandmother struggled to feed that many mouths, Frimpong remembers those years with fondness. At the age of eight, Frimpong joined his mother Esther Amoako, a gospel singer, in the Netherlands. At that time, he was not a legal immigrant to the Netherlands, but his family worked on obtaining his Dutch residence permit. The process took 13 more years, and a monumental effort by his many supporters. He finally earned his residency permit in 2007, and gained Dutch nationality in 2008.

Running

Frimpong began sprinting at 15 years old, when a friend showed him a medal he had won in a race. Frimpong wanted one, so, in 2001, he started running under former Olympian Sammy Monsels. By 2003, he was the Dutch junior champion in the 200-meter sprint earning the nickname GoldenSprint and he aspired to compete at the Olympic Games.

An ankle injury derailed his training and no doctor would treat him as he was an undocumented immigrant. Finally, physiotherapist Michael Davidson, who had been following his story, treated Frimpong for a token amount and it took three years before he was fully recovered. He met some students who had studied in America and heard about running opportunities there. He sent his athletic profile to Utah Valley University (UVU) track coach Scott Houle and was offered an athletic scholarship.

He started at UVU in 2008 and ran for the college team in 100 meters, 200 m and the 4×100-meter relay. In May 2010, Frimpong helped the relay team break the school record during the 2010 Great West Conference Championships, with a time of 41.05 seconds. In 2011, he helped UVU 4×400m relay team win a gold medal and broke the meet record during the Great West indoor Championships held at the Armory indoor track in New York City. Individually, his times recorded for the university were 6.99 seconds in the 60-meter dash, 10.71 in the 100 m and 21.93 over 200 m.[1] He graduated from Utah Valley University (UVU) with honors in marketing and a minor in business management in 2013.[1]

Frimpong aimed to represent the Netherlands at the 2012 Summer Olympics by was a long way from the Olympic qualifying standards of 10.24 for the 100 m and 20.65 seconds for the 200 m. He was only managing eleven seconds after his injury but improved to 10.45 seconds in 2011.[2] In 2010, he was ranked 70 among Dutch sprinters but managed third in the yearly rankings in 2011. He competed at the 2011 Universiade but was again over eleven seconds for the 100 m – his time of 11.04 seconds was one hundredth faster than the women's 100 m Universiade winner Carrie Russell.[3] He was not selected for the relay team for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics as he was not among the top six runners that year and had suffered an achilles injury.[4]

Bobsledding

Akwasi was courted by the Dutch bobsled Olympic team, training for about five days at the push track in Hardenwijk, the Netherlands. A push track is basically a bobsled on wheels that runs down a small hill on rails on dry land.

The Dutch team came up to Park City, Utah during November, the team tried out Frimpong as the brakeman for the four-man World Cup Race in Park City. Pushing off the Dutch "B" team, Frimpong, Ivo de Bruin, Thierry Kruithoff and Bror van der Zijde were ranked 21st out of 26 teams.[5] In September 2013, Frimpong was invited to the Dutch Pre-Olympic Team trials. After two days push off in Oberhof, Germany he was selected among seven other brakemen. His next performance came at the 2013 World Cup Race in Park City where he was in the two-man bob with de Bruin, but after finishing second the team were disqualified as their sled was made of non-FIBT-permitted materials. After this, de Bruin chose another brakeman, Yannick Greiner.[6][7] Neither Frimpong nor de Bruin made the Dutch team for the 2014 Winter Olympics.[8]

Rabbit Theory

The documentary film, The Rabbit Theory, by Dutch filmmakers Rinske Bosch and Nicole Batteke, begins in 2003, and follows Frimpong for five years in the Netherlands. After winning the Dutch National Junior Championship in 2003 at the age of 17, Frimpong was seen as the newest sprinting talent from the Bijlmer, Amsterdam. Frimpong trained each night under Subwaystation Kraaiennest with former Olympian Sammy Monsels, and the film follows his journey of training for the Olympics, while fighting for Dutch residency.

It’s more than just a film about an athlete or a film about citizenship. At one point in the film when he is at a race, he describes feeling like a rabbit in a stadium surrounded by lions, needing to be astonishing just to survive. His entire life can be summed up by this analogy. The documentary premiered in Europe in September 2010 and has been submitted to international festivals.

He was nominated for the "Amsterdammer of the Year" award, but ultimately did not win.[9]

Frimpong was honored in late 2012 with a sculpture of his face and head, as part of the “Porem van Mokum,” an art series honoring those who reflect the spirit of Amsterdam. The project encompasses 365 portraits created by 16 professional sculptors. Frimpong's portrait was sculpted by Saskia de Rooy, who also founded the project.”[10]

Golden Events Management

At the age of 26, Frimpong opened Golden Events Management, an events planning and branding management organization located in Orem, Utah. He is currently the founder and CEO, and has gathered employees with a diverse skillset. Their combined international background and experiences make them unique in the industry. Golden Events Management specializes in events planning, branding management, social media coordination, athlete and artist representation, and speed and power training.[11]

Started in 2012 by Frimpong, the GoldenSprint Challenge is a USATF-sanctioned meet, aimed at testing and promoting local athletes. Using the Utah Olympic Oval, athletes compete in sprint events, with the fastest runner garnering the Golden Spikes Trophy. Frimpong has said he started this event to promote indoor sprinting and training in Utah.[12]

Frimpong has worked in partnership with Nike, Kalenji, and Eurotech Group. He was also the face of Acai Action, a non-carbonated energy drink produced by Neways.

References

  1. 1 2 Akwasi Frimpong. Wolverine Green. Retrieved on 2014-03-02.
  2. ↑ Akwasi Frimpong. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-03-02.
  3. ↑ van Kuijen, Hans (2011-08-22). World University Games conclude in Shenzhen – Wrap report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-09-13.
  4. ↑ "Akwasi Frimpong: Against All Odds". July 31, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  5. ↑ Akwasi Frimpong. FIBT. Retrieved on 2014-03-02.
  6. ↑ De échte start van het seizoen. Bobteam de Bruin (2013-12-03). Retrieved on 2014-03-02.
  7. ↑ NAC 2 Men Bob Park City 21.11.2013 22:00h Results. FIBT. Retrieved on 2014-03-02.
  8. ↑ Team Netherlands. Sochi2014. Retrieved on 2014-03-02.
  9. ↑ Ghanaian Dutch nominated for ‘Amsterdammer of the Year’….Akwasi Frimpong knocks at door to ‘Hall of Fame’. Modern Ghana. Retrieved on 2014-03-02.
  10. ↑ "Blog Spot". Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Golden Events Management Home Page". Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Track & Field Sprint Challenge Information". Retrieved November 9, 2012.

External links

Dutch references

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