Black Athletes Owning Winter Sports

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For years, it was believed that Black people held domain over two very specific things: sports and entertainment. Sure, we excel in so many fields but to the world, we were born to either sing, dance, run a pigskin or bear a wicked jumpshot.

Even when we started to splash across the sports spectrum, competing where the contenders were mainly lily white, Black folks scored the biggest trophies and broke the most records (see: Venus and Serena Williams). They thought we were only good for flinging a ball or jumping hurdles, but despite some resistance, we own tennis now. These days, more and more athletes of African descent are training in winter sports, from speed skating to bobsleighing.

It’s taken a while for us to make our mark but only because many of us aren’t born into environmental (or financial) circumstances where hightailing it on a pair of skis is a thing. But what the world should consider is that, when we get ahold of what we can do on ice, we’ll run that too. Black people have been running sports like soccer and track and field for eons, just wait and see what we do with curling and ice hockey. Here are seven Black winter sports medalists who’ve already begun breaking the mold.

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Vonetta Flowers (USA), bobsleigh, gold in 2002

Vonetta Flowers tweaked just a couple of things careerwise and found her groove. She started off in track and field while attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham and she was a star on campus, which made her consider going for the Summer Olympics. But life had other plans. She wasn’t quite ready to compete on dry land, so she gave it a shot on ice and found that she took to it right away. Soon after, Flowers signed on to become the brakewoman for the U.S. bobsledding team in the 2004 Winter Olympics. She was the first black woman to win a gold medal in the Winter Games.

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Jarome Iginla (Canada), ice hockey, gold in 2002 & 2010

Jarome Iginla has nurturing his hockey career since he was a teen in the early ’90s. Born and raised in Canada, where the locals skate on ponds and lakes (!), Iginla was pretty much born to carry a stick and skates. With his grandfather’s support, he climbed to the top of the junior division and as he grew older, he’d earned the respect of hockey lovers nationwide. He’d been copping gold medals since he was a teenager, competing in the Nations Cup, the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in 1996, and the World Ice Hockey Championships as the youngest player at age 19. Iginla went on to play for the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings. While he was with the Flames, he’d received the call to participate in the 2002 Winter Games. He answered that call by winning the first gold medal for Canada in 50 years. But what’s even more impressive is that Iginla was the first Black man to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics, ever.

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Kalyna Roberge (Canada), speed skating, silver in 3000m relay, 2006 & 2010

Kalyna Roberge has to have a special case for all of her gold medals. Well, actually she only has three gold (World Championships, World Cup and World Junior Championships) but she needs the room to store her two Olympic silvers too! Earning all these accolades was pretty much a given, as the Quebec native started training around the age of nine.

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Lascelles Brown (Canada), bobsleigh, silver in 2006, bronze in 2010

Remember the movie Cool Runnings? You can bet Lascelles Brown does. In fact, you can almost guarantee someone mentions it as soon as he brings up his occupation and his birthplace. Starting off as part of the Jamaican Bobsled team from 1999 to 2004, Brown set a new track push record at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He continued his training in Canada, met his future wife and applied for citizenship. The papers came through just before the 2006 Olympics where he took home a bronze medal for Canada, becoming the first Jamaican-born Winter Olympic medalist. Six years later, he scooped the silver.

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Shelley-Ann Brown (Canada), bobsleigh, silver in 2010

Ontario’s Shelley-Ann Brown is the second champion of Jamaican lineage on this list. How curious. Two Winter Games medalists from one of the most tropical places on the planet. To be fair, Brown’s bloodline may bring 80 degree days and fresh seafood to mind but she was born and raised in the North. She started off in track and field then ended up taking her talents over to bobsledding. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Brown earned a silver medal as part of a two-woman team.

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Richard Adjei (Germany), bobsleigh, silver in 2010

Germany’s Richard Adjei is a beast — whether it’s on a grassy field or an icy track. He formerly played linebacker for Europe’s American football league and in 2007, he began training as a bobsledder. He scored a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics and a gold at the 2011 World Championships for Germany.

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Shani Davis (USA), speed skating, silver in 1500m in 2006 & 2010, gold in 1000m in 2006 & 2010

When it comes to the Winter Games, Chicago-born Shani Davis doesn’t play around. Davis has two Olympic gold medals and another 13 in gold from the World Distance Championships, the World Sprint Championships and the World All Around Championships. Not to mention, another eight silvers and six bronze. He’s set nine records, internationally and is considered one of the fastest long track speed racers in the world. He was at the top of the list for over a decade. A natural? Something like that. Davis was introduced to the sport by his mother’s employer, who was a lawyer by day, speed race referee by night.