Olympics-American-Jamaican triplets fight for more inclusion in snow sport

By Marleen Kaesebier

Jan 20 (Reuters) – The Rivers triplets remember moments growing up in the U.S. where they and their family were the only Black people skiing on the mountain in upstate New York.

Now 18, Henniyah and Helaina are featuring at international competitions and Henri IV has qualified for the slalom at next month’s Milano Cortina Olympics representing Jamaica.

But still, the American-Jamaican triplets are reminded that they do not look like the majority of athletes in the sport as they routinely face racism on the slopes – a key reason why they are fighting for more inclusion.

HATE “FUELS YOU”

The Rivers family is used to anything people say by now, Henniyah said, having grown up as “outsiders” on ski hills.

At competitions even now the teenagers have to deal with people throwing offensive words, noises and gestures their way.

While they try to brush it off, they do like to shut it down.

“There are so many people that walk past you and they look at you like it’s your first time on Earth,” Helaina said.

“You’re like, ‘Yes, I know how to ski and no offence I might be a better skier than you. But, yes, you can still give me those eyes, still give me those looks,´” she said.

Like her brother, Helaina said she uses the negativity as motivation. “It fuels you to do better in your next run or to do better with future races and competitions,” she noted.

One thing they have, however, always been able to rely on is each other, Henniyah added, as well as other people that have supported them along the way.

ORGANISATION CELEBRATING ATHLETES OF COLOUR IN SNOW SPORT

The National Brotherhood of Snowsports (NBS), which their father has been president of for the past five years, has been one major support for the triplets.

NBS, which was founded in 1973 and now has 62 clubs across the U.S., U.K. and South Africa, aims to support and find athletes of colour in snow sports.

In this way, the Rivers family has received scholarship help for the triplets’ high school education and training.

More than that, it has been a way for them to come together and celebrate snow sport with other people of colour.

“It basically showed us we can ski with other people that look like us,” Henniyah said.

INSPIRING OTHERS, HOPING FOR MORE INCLUSION

The siblings say snow sport has seen a lot of change but there is still a long way to go in inclusion and diversity, a process they hope to help foster.

“I just keep telling myself, one day you’re going to inspire a change and things are going to be different – and I can’t wait to see how that looks in what five, 10 years,” Henri IV said.

They know they have already set an example for younger athletes of colour, Henniyah said, while acknowledging that the opportunity is not available to everyone.

NOT ABOUT GETTING GOLD

While Helaina and Henniyah have not managed to score enough qualifying points to represent their mother’s country, Jamaica, like their brother, they are not giving up on the vision of all three of them hitting the Olympic stage one day.

For now, the whole Rivers family will be heading to Bormio, Italy in February to cheer on Henri IV.

Henniyah’s dream is for her brother to simply be there, ski and finish the race – the result itself not important. She said the same was true for Jamaica.

“They are just happy that we’re representing their island in snow sport,” she said. “The whole goal isn’t to get gold, it’s just to show younger generations that anything is possible.”

(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)