Benjamin Alexander made history this week when he qualified for the Winter Olympics in Beijing. That made him the first Jamaican skier to make the Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But his story didn’t start on the slopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former engineering student became a DJ and traveled the world. He lived in countries across the globe, from the United States to Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But his two trips to Canada six years ago changed the trajectory of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On his first trip, he fell in love with the scenery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On his second trip as a DJ, he decided to give skiing a try. And while it wasn’t an instant success, it triggered his desire to pursue the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I just chose one green run [the easiest] and I just kept doing the same run over and over again,” Alexander told BBC.com<\/a>. “The first time I went on this run I think I fell 27 times. Great, that’s my baseline. Let’s see if I can improve that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so he kept trying, even attending the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang as a fan.<\/p>