File: Connor Wilson competing at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at St Moritz in 2017.
JOHANNESBURG - Skier Connor Wilson will represent South Africa at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea in February.
Wilson, 21, who competes for the SA Active Club, will compete in the Alpine Skiing slalom/giant slalom event.
Based in Johannesburg, at the end of last year, Wilson was ranked 54th in the giant slalom and 71st in the slalom event.
A total of two South African athletes qualified for the one available Alpine Skiing slot at these Winter Olympics.
SASCOC selected Wilson on the basis of his world ranking which was superior to his other counterpart and had the potential to do best for the country.
Team management for Connor will be Peter Pilz who will also assume a coaching role. He will be assisted by Eastern Cape skier Sive Speelman who will be the team’s technical official.
"Coming from a dry country like South Africa with extremely limited winter sport conditions, our teams to winter sports have traditionally always been small," said SASCOC president Gideon Sam.
"But, as we do in all our myriad sports, snow sports are still an important part of the sporting family. We wish Connor all the best and I’m also sure that Sive Speelman is going to gain a wealth of experience during his time in South Korea."
The XXIII Winter Olympics will take place between February 9-25 and 92 nations will compete. A total of 102 events will take place, spread over seven sports disciplines.
