Despite the unlikelihood of it, there have been a handful of unlikely candidates who have made it into the Winter Olympics and 42 year old Jamaican Michael Williams wants to join them. While Cool Runnings planted the seed, it was the more recent feats of Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong of Ghana and Jamaica’s Errol Kerr performances in the 2010 Winter Olympics that truly drove him on his latest mission.

I thought I’d love to combine the two, represent Jamaica and ski for Jamaica some time in my life. Jamaica is really proud there’s another guy trying to do what the bobsleigh guys did in 1988

Watching their determination in the 2010 Olympics pushed Williams to take action, so he got on the phone to the Jamaican Olympic committee and more importantly set out to learn how to ski. Three years ago, he’d never skied before.

Now just a few months away from Sochi, despite his unparalleled enthusiasm, Williams still faces a monumental challenge. In short he needs to lower his 763-point average down to 140 by mid-January 2014 to be in with any chance of qualifying.

No easy task, but you can’t say he’s not trying. Williams is training eight hours a day straight to try and fulfil his dream. With his best finish last season coming 43rd out of 45 finishers we’re not holding our breath. But here at MPORA we love the underdog so we are keeping our fingers and toes firmly crossed for him. Keep up with his progress on his Facebook page here.