Saturday, October 31, 2009

From the Elk Grove Citizen Newspaper (10/23/09)

Notebook: Winter Olympics a possibility for snowboarder


By John Hull - Citizen Sports Writer
Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009 3:44 PM PDT
There have been Elk Grove-based athletes participate in the Summer Olympics, just as recently as Stephanie Cox with the gold-medal winning USA soccer team.

The Winter Games have not been as populated.

That may end next year in Vancouver, British Columbia, when Kenneth Carson enters into the Snowboard Cross event.

“It’s like moto-cross, except there’s no motor under you,” Carson, a manager of a local restaurant when he’s not on his snowboard, said. “You usually compete against three other snowboarders. A gate drops down and then you navigate a course with lots of jumps and rhythm bumps and you’re finished in about a minute and a half.”


What makes the story even more intriguing is that Carson won’t compete for the USA team. His dad is a citizen of the Phillipines so through a loophole in the rules, he’ll be a representative of that country.

“This past season was my best, placing first in all of my amateur regional events as well as taking home silver from the USASA Nationals in Colorado,” he added. “With my acceptance onto the Philippines National Team, I was invited to participate in the FIS World Cup for my discipline. The next stop is in Colorado in December, followed by stops in Sweden, Austria, and Switzerland to name a few.”

The problem for Carson is that he needs to raise some money to make the trips necessary to qualify for the Winter Olympics. His employer, Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, has provided the money to this point to compete in events. Carson is a floor manager of the restaurant on Bond Road.

1 comment:

  1. When the time comes, I'm making prints of you. Represent brother.

    ReplyDelete