Benjamin Alexander is set to create history as the first Jamaican skier to participate in the Winter Olympics, scheduled for Beijing, China in next month.

Benjamin, a former Disc Jock, made his historic qualification for the games after placing seventh in the giant slalom at the Cape Verde National Ski Championships on January 12.

During an interview with Sky News, the 38-year-old expressed relief in his feat after investing years and resources into the venture.

“The biggest emotion I have right now is relief. I have put my entire life into this, my savings, my reputation, absolutely everything. It’s taken 200% of my all to get here,” he said.

He also shared that the Olympic dream started in 2020, four years after initially taking up the sport, but was almost derailed by the sudden pandemic.

“I took on this project as a full endeavour in March 2020,” Alexander said. “So a big part of my fight and struggle has been against the pandemic – not being able to get into the southern hemisphere to train during their winter and losing months and months of competitions due to them being cancelled,” he added.

The engineering graduate also shared the impact the Jamaica bobsleigh Olympic team-inspired movie ‘Cool Runnings’ had on his decision to go into the sport.

“Had it not been for that movie and my friends making jokes about me being like Cool Runnings I don’t think this plan would have been concocted,” he said.

Alexander added that while he would love the medal, his aim is just about inspiring the next generation of Jamaica Olympians.

“My story is all about participation and hopefully inspiring the next generation of Jamaican children to start earlier than 32,” he shared.

Jamaica was last represented at the winter games in 2018 coincidentally by history-making pair Carrie Russel and Jasmine Fenlator, who were the first female team to qualify for games in Bobsleigh.

The 2022 Winter Olympics is set to get underway on February 4 in Beijing, China.