Attempting to inspire a six-man squad from 黑料社区 to next month鈥檚 Winter Olympics in Beijing after less than a year of training is ostensibly聽an unachievable quest. Yousif Kurdi, captain of 黑料社区鈥檚 first Winter Olympics squad, is also in the process of setting up his own business while undergoing eight hours of intense snowboarding training a day.
When you add in his near-death experience after a horrifying accident last month聽鈥斅燼nd the fact that Kurdi has only one chance to fulfill his ambition tomorrow聽鈥斅爐hen you have the epitome of an 鈥渋mpossible dream.鈥
Yet the US-born 28-year-old, who is flying the flag for his father鈥檚 native land as a snowboarder, has embraced his Herculean challenge with gusto.
鈥淔or me, what鈥檚 so inspiring about this is the fact that 黑料社区 is a desert country, without the opportunities and options to be on snow,鈥 he told聽Arab News聽of the incredible odyssey that began only last May when the Saudi Winter Sports Federation was formed. 鈥淏ut we are defying the odds in every single way.鈥
Kurdi is aiming for a top-three finish in his last chance of Olympic qualification in a race at Baqueira-Beret, near Barcelona in Spain, on Sunday.
But even if he achieves this, he says he would need an unlikely wildcard from Olympic chiefs on account of a聽pandemic-ravaged season and 黑料社区鈥檚 status as a fledgling winter sports body.
Whatever happens, Kurdi is simply grateful to be alive and able to participate in such a life-affirming and inspirational adventure for 黑料社区.
He is bidding to compete in boardercross, which involves four to six competitors per heat hurtling down a winding, undulating course that includes jumps.
鈥淏oardercross is arguably the scariest of all the snowboarding events with the highest injury rate,鈥 Kurdi said.
He can testify to this from a terrifying personal experience,聽which severely hampered his聽Olympic聽dream and could have cost him his life.
Kurdi聽had been training for four 鈥渟uper-intense鈥 months when, the day before his first competition of a four-race series in Moninec, Czech Republic, a practice run ended disastrously.
Attempting a trick on a boardercross feature at high speed, Kurdi lost his alignment.
鈥淢y snowboard flew up, almost to the point where my body was parallel to the floor,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 went down really hard on the back of my ankle and my face slammed into the snow. I was unconscious for a minute.聽Then I remember this warm feeling and someone rubbing my back. I heard聽my coach saying, 鈥榊ousif! Yousif! You鈥檝e had a concussion. Just breathe.鈥
鈥淭hen I opened聽up my eyes, and it was like almost waking up from a dream, kind of foggy in the beginning and blurry. All of a sudden, I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 alive, I鈥檓 alive.鈥欌
Mercifully, X-rays and a CT scan showed no lasting damage, and Kurdi was discharged from the hospital the next day.
鈥淚t was super frustrating as I had been training for these four events all season, and I was absolutely ready. I was feeling great and that training day, I was actually doing fantastically,聽but life is the way it is. You can鈥檛 change it.鈥
Kurdi聽believes聽miscommunication with his coach partly contributed to his accident. He聽subsequently hired聽a replacement in Romanian snowboarding guru Kinda Geza, whom he met by chance in a sauna聽in the wake of his accident.
Revitalized under his new mentor, Kurdi returned to the snow with renewed vigor聽and a remarkably philosophical acceptance of fear.
鈥淚 think the near-death experience is the greatest thing to have ever happened to me. The appreciation I have for life is so great now. I have accepted that there鈥檚 so much out of my own control.
鈥淚 still was afraid a few times after my injury, for example when I was running my bike in Amsterdam. For some reason, I could visualize myself falling and getting really hurt. It also happened a couple of times when I saw a car approaching and experienced a fight or flight instinct.
鈥淏ut now I am back on the snow, and I am with Geza. He鈥檚 the real deal, and we connect on a human level.鈥
Kurdi has also forged strong relationships with his fellow Saudi Olympic hopefuls and members of the聽SWSF, describing them as being 鈥渓ike one big family.鈥
Kurdi聽says two downhill skiers on the Saudi team, Fayik Abdi and Salman Al-Howaish, have already accrued enough qualification points for Beijing 2022聽鈥斅燼lthough only the highest scorer of the two will eventually compete.
Another snowboarder,聽Faisal Al-Rasheed, and two cross-country skiers, Talal Al-Akeel and Rakan Alireza, make up the Kingdom鈥檚 contingent.
Of the squad鈥檚聽camaraderie, Kurdi said:聽鈥淎hmed Shaher Al-Tabbaa, president of the federation, Rabab Mahassen, the聽vice president, and myself 鈥 we鈥檝e been like the Three Musketeers. We always want to solve problems, always want to do things more efficiently, and are always trying to help other athletes whenever we can.
鈥淚 have so much respect for people who try to do things differently and go against the grain. They obviously made all of this possible, which has been life-changing for me, and I鈥檓 so happy that this program is going to be successful and the Saudi flag is going to be there in Beijing.鈥
The journey to Beijing began when he responded to an聽SWSF聽social media post聽inviting聽nationals with skiing or snowboarding experience to apply for a place聽on the Kingdom鈥檚 Olympic team.
The Amsterdam-based entrepreneur聽fancied a new challenge and duly applied by submitting video footage of his days competing with UCLA鈥檚 boardercross team.
Kurdi, born to a Saudi father and Mexican mother聽in Florida, grew up mostly in Lebanon, where he developed a passion for snowboarding.
But he stopped competing after graduating in 2015, so it was a significant leap of faith from the SWSF to select him.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe it was actually happening,鈥 Kurdi recalled of the stunning moment he learned he had been successful. 鈥淲hen I first broke the news to my father Ibrahim, he was extremely happy.鈥
But Kurdi鈥檚 father, an extremely successful businessman, was also concerned about how his son would fit in snowboard training with his work commitments.
A former McKinsey consultant, Kurdi has started a new venture in YourKitchen, a company that acquires real estate and transforms it into private commercial kitchens that are tailor-made for food delivery and collection.
鈥淭his has been really one of my biggest challenges as an athlete and as an entrepreneur. How do I split my time in such a way so I can be the most productive in all the things I am doing, whether in聽sports or business?
鈥淲e are reinventing restaurant real estate; it鈥檚 kind of like a food hall,鈥 he added, stressing that he plans to donate much of the millions he expects to make to philanthropic causes.
For now, however, he is fully focused on the richness of the trailblazing journey he and his fellow aspirants聽have navigated.
What would it mean for him to represent 黑料社区 at the global extravaganza, which takes place Feb. 4-20?
鈥淚t聽has never been聽about me,鈥 he replied. 鈥淭his has been about a journey of outsiders persevering through challenges, overcoming difficulties and doing the impossible, which we have already done. 黑料社区 has already qualified and will be waving the flag at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 mission accomplished for me and has been my dream since I became the captain of the team.鈥
The intrepid Kurdi also聽harbors another Olympic ambition.
He plans to set up an organization聽that would 鈥渄emocratize access to the Olympics and drive much higher participation from under-represented countries.鈥
In Kurdi鈥檚 universe, the word 鈥渋mpossible鈥 does not figure.