Pita Taufatofua, who is more familiar with beach and rainforest surroundings, said “help from the big man upstairs” has seen him qualify for a cross-country skiing race on Friday.
The 34-year-old was quoted by BBC Sport as saying: “How did I get here? Lots of prayer.
“It was a miracle, to qualify in such a short time was a miracle; I had help from the big man upstairs, I had help from the people supporting me.”
Taufatofua, who says he only started skiing training twelve weeks, has vowed to complete the 15km event which starts at 6am GMT in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang.
Two years ago, he competed in Taekwondo during the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro but crashed out after a 19-1 opening round defeat.
Convinced that it is the taking part that counts, not winning, Taufatofua added: “I am not going to win, I had twelve weeks. The miracle was to get here.
“I do it because there are people who are inspired by this story. Publicly, I show all my failings as well – I don’t just put on this image of a perfect life.
“People are scared to fail, scared of criticism, scared of what their mum or dad will say about stuff and then they don’t do anything.”
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