Paralympics: 1st Haitian at Winter Games vows to show country's potential

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Mar, 2026) Ralf Etienne, the first winter Paralympic athlete to represent Haiti, wants his appearance at the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games to change preconceived notions of his country and inspire the next generation.

"A lot of people attach Haiti to chaos," he said. "Haiti made me, and here I am here today. This is a representation of what Haiti has to offer...There's a lot of Haitians like me, they just need opportunity," the 36-year-old said in an interview at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Paralympic Village.

Etienne is competing as a para alpine skier in the men's standing giant slalom. He says he took up the challenge to qualify having only skied for 80 days in his life.

"I want the young Haitians in Haiti right now, in Miragoane, in Port-au-Prince, in Cite Soleil, when they look at me doing this, I want them to say, 'If Ralf can do this, I can do anything,'" he said.

Haiti has been in what Human Rights Watch called a "multidimensional" crisis that reached "catastrophic levels" in 2024, with intensifying attacks by criminal groups bringing the country to a standstill as it struggles to recover from repeated natural disasters.

At the time of the devastating January 2010 earthquake, Etienne was a young entrepreneur in the Caribbean country.

The magnitude 7.0 temblor is believed to have killed over 310,000 people and affected the lives of many more.

The building Etienne was in collapsed, leaving him hanging upside down for around eight hours. He was eventually rescued, but went on to lose his left leg.

"It's basically a story from the rubble in 2010, to the summit in 2026. A beautiful turnaround," he said.

"I think when I first lost my leg, I was literally suicidal," he said. "Then I gained a new, a renewed perspective of life."

Now a banker, Etienne took up para alpine skiing because it could be a platform to inspire others.

But the sport has also clearly brought him inspiration.

"It's improved my quality of life," he said. "I was in a race in Italy a couple of weeks ago, and the gentleman (who) won...has one leg and he's 61 years old. So I'm like, I can be 70, 80 years old racing with one leg."

Etienne is set to compete in the men's giant slalom standing on March 13.

Haiti is one of five countries, along with El Salvador, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Portugal, to send their first athletes to a Winter Paralympic Games this year.