Sports
Bahamian Olympic Snowboarder visits Summer Olympics
By Betsy Cooper, Manager of Korath Wright
Aug 18, 2008 - 1:15:19 PM

Bahamian Olympic Snowboarder Korath Wright (right) stands with Bahamian Olympic Tennis player Devin Mullings after his match at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in China.

Korath Wright, the Bahamian snowboarder who is on the path to make history for the Bahamas by competing at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. It has been a while since we've provided you with an update on what Korath is up to, so we thought this would be a perfect time to fill you in on his summer adventures.

After a phenomenal stay in Nassau where he met an incredible amount of new and wonderful supporters, Korath headed straight for snow! He coached and trained for June and July at a snowboard camp in Mt. Hood, Oregon in the United States. This camp provides a great opportunity for Korath to stay on snow, and to help build the sport of snowboarding by coaching younger athletes. He also managed to get some training in, and felt great about the time spent there.

From Mt. Hood, Korath and I made the trek over to Beijing, China for the 2008 Summer Olympics. We spent 5 fabulous days there, soaking everything in, and further preparing Korath for the Olympic experience that lies ahead of him in 2010. One of the other main goals of visiting Beijing was to show his support of fellow Bahamian athletes, and we were able to do just that by cheering on Devon Mullings in his first-round tennis match. Korath joined a number of Bahamian Olympic officials and media at the match, and supported Devon as he gained his first Olympic experience as well! Korath also toured through the Athletes' Village, caught some further tennis and swimming action, and of course enjoyed some of the traditional Chinese sites such as Tiannemen Square and the Forbidden City. He also talked to a few media outlets from the Bahamas and Canada, getting the message out about the Bahamas, and where he's at with his training, etc. Overall, it was an awe-inspiring adventure, and one that will definitely help Korath to focus on the task at hand come February 2010.

And at the end of the Beijing adventure, Korath headed straight back to the mountains! He is now in New Zealand where he will be training at Cardrona, preparing for the first World Cup Halfpipe event of the 2008-09 season. This event will mark history, as it will be the first time that Korath (or anyone!) will be representing the Bahamas, and he will be riding the snowboard that many of you signed at the Official Ceremony held at the British Colonial Hilton back in May. I'm sure he'll be thinking a lot about that day as he gets ready to "drop in" and compete under the Bahamian flag for the first time!

And while Korath has been on the hill and traveling around the world, the rest of the "team" has been hard at work as well. We have been filming almost everything he does, talking to media, setting up the structure for sponsorships, and just getting the word out as much as possible!!

It seems like just yesterday that we were on the lawn of the Hilton, talking to all of you, and building up the excitement for this adventure...and now it begins!!! We really appreciate all of your support, and hope that you will continue to cheer him on as the adventure continues! If you are interested in sponsoring or supporting Korath in any other way, please contact me at your convenience, and we'd be happy to discuss any opportunities you may think of. This really is a great opportunity not only for Korath, but also for an entire country!!!
 
As the season begins, we will be providing more updates, so stay tuned! And if you want to see more photos, articles and videos of Korath, please join the "Bahamas Snowboard Team" Facebook group.

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www.korathwright.com

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