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Great Ethiopian Olympic champions like Haile Gebrselassie Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba have dominated the sport of long distance running in the Summer olympics in recent years.

He doesn't expect win a medal but hopes to inspire younger Ethiopian skiers

But now, there's an Ethiopian who is taking part in a long distance event at the Winter Olympics. Robel Teklemariam is competing in the 15K free style cross country event in Vancouver.

Vancouver will be his second Olympic Games, the first was in Torino in 2006.

The 35-year-old moved to the US from Ethiopia as a child, when his mother took up a position with the UN. His dream of competing for his country at the Winter Olympics began when he learnt to ski in where he grew up in Lake Placid, New York, home of the 1980 Winter Games.

Teklemariam, is not expecting to win a medal, but he hopes his participation will inspire future generations of Ethiopians to take part in the sport.

The Ethiopian is not the only African participating in Vancouver, there are also Olympians from Morocco, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Algeria.

Teklemariam spoke with ´óÏó´«Ã½ Fast Track's Syerramia Willoughby.