Laurence Thoms

Laurence Thoms (born March 26, 1980) is a Fijian alpine skier who was born in Suva [ [http://www.lequipe.fr/Ski/SkiFicheSkieur1099.html "Laurence Thoms"] , "L'Equipe"] . He represented Fiji at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and attracted media attention as a competitor from a tropical nation at the Winter Olympics. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/winterolympics2002/hi/english/alpine_skiing/newsid_1822000/1822033.stm "Beach boy takes to the slopes"] , BBC, February 15, 2002]

Thoms was Fiji's flag-bearer during the Opening Ceremony, being his country's only representative [ [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/olympics/58060_oalone13.shtml "Eleven on their own in Games"] , Associated Press, February 13, 2002] , and was the first Pacific Islander to qualify for the Winter Games in his own right (rather than through the wild cards process). [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/winterolympics2002/hi/english/alpine_skiing/newsid_1822000/1822033.stm "Beach boy takes to the slopes"] , BBC, February 15, 2002] [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/gen/story?id=1337593 "Flames and Flickers: Fiji team starts at a party"] , ESPN, February 20, 2002] [ [http://www.deseretnews.com/oly/view/0,3949,70000090,00.html "Fiji's lone 2002 Olympian lured by a newspaper ad"] , "Deseret News"] He competed in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/gen/story?id=1337593 "Flames and Flickers: Fiji team starts at a party"] , ESPN, February 20, 2002] He failed to complete the Slalom [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2002/results/alpine_skiing/slalom/mens/index.html "Alping Skiing results - Men's Slalom"] , CNN] [ [http://media.www.bsudailynews.com/media/storage/paper849/news/2002/02/25/Sports/Slaw-Saysolympics.Produce.Years.New.Heroes-1298814.shtml "Slaw Says: Olympics produce year's new heroes"] , "Ball State Daily", February 25, 2002] , but completed the Giant Slalom and finished fifty-fifth with a time of 2:41.98. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/results/byDay?date=20020221 "Results -- Thursday, Feb 21"] , ESPN] Spectators reportedly cheered and encouraged him, and "went crazy when he crossed the finish line". [ [http://media.www.westerncourier.com/media/storage/paper650/news/2002/02/22/Sports/Games.Run.Into.Scandal.At.End-443464.shtml "Games run into scandal at end"] , "Western Courier", February 22, 2002]

One newspaper described Thoms' participation as exemplifying "the true spirit of the Games". [ [http://media.www.westerncourier.com/media/storage/paper650/news/2002/02/22/Sports/Games.Run.Into.Scandal.At.End-443464.shtml "Games run into scandal at end"] , "Western Courier", February 22, 2002]

Before taking part in the Olympics, Thoms had worked as a ski instructor in New Zealand. [ [http://www.time.com/time/olympics2002/article/0,8599,212042,00.html "In Praise of the Lone Olympians"] , "Time", February 21, 2002] His participation in the Olympics was funded by a retired Swiss businessman living in Fiji, who had founded the Fiji Alpine Ski Association. [ [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/olympics/58060_oalone13.shtml "Eleven on their own in Games"] , Associated Press, February 13, 2002]

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