The 32 year old, spent two years selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door to finance his unlikely journey to Pyeongchang, now can’t wait to take a deserved break and go lie on a beach.
“I’m going to take my wife on vacation,” Frimpong told AFP.
“I don’t know where yet, but somewhere warm I want the sun and the sand. Hopefully I can surprise her by taking her somewhere like Hawaii. Or maybe the Dominican Republic, where we went on honeymoon.”
Frimpong slid in at 30th position over 11 seconds behind winner Yun Sung-bin of South Korea after his third and final run.
“I came last but the most important thing is that I won the hearts of the people,” said Frimpong, who previously failed to qualify for the Olympics as a sprinter and in bobsleigh.
“The Olympic experience was awesome. I’ve never been in a place where so many people are cheering you on,” he added after becoming only the second athlete from Ghana to compete at a Winter Games.
“You feel like you’re a gold medallist, that’s how they make you feel each run. It’s incredible.”
Frimpong when asked what it feels like to throw oneself off an icy mountain head-first at 77mph (125kph) on what looks like a glorified baking tray “You definitely have to be a little bit crazy,” he laughed. “But it’s also about chasing the unknown. You gotta try something different — life is all about trial and error.”
He was supported in the stands by his wife Erica and their 10-month-old daughter Ashanti. Frimpong’s gained a huge applause from Korean’s, as well as shouting, flag-waving group’s of supporters from his native Ghana.
“My wife wanted me to go after it and without her support and her pushing me, doing two, three jobs while she was pregnant, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Ghana’s first competitor in the winter Olympics was Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong also known as the “Snow Leopard” who competed in slalom skiing at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Frimpong reportedly had a tough time convincing sponsors he was serious about skeleton.
However after his rave reception at the Pyeongchang Olympics, sports fueled adrenaline junkie Frimpong already craves more.
“I still have a lot to improve on,” he said. “I came last but it doesn’t matter. I’ve only been doing it for a year and a half.The rest of the world doesn’t understand the work you have to do behind the scenes,” added Frimpong.
“But I know what it takes to get here and I’m just really eager and excited for the next four years.”
