A physiotherapist who helped train Ghana’s only ski champion, the Snow Leopard, has returned to Croydon after the winter Olympic games.

Tim Allardyce has spent the past three months working with Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, who grew up in an African country which had never seen snow.

It was the first time a Ghanaian athlete had qualified for the Winter Olympics, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact he learned to ski in Milton Keynes just over six years ago.

The Croydon physiotherapist was on the Snow Leopard’s six-strong team and was in charge of keeping him fit.

Mr Allardyce said: “My job was to help keep Kwame as fit and physically prepared as possible, to make sure he could ski well on the big day, his Olympic slalom race.

"We achieved all of the goals we set out to do.”

Although he finished second last of the 54 skiers, from 102 starting, who made it to the bottom of the slope, the Ghaniain got the biggest cheer of the event.

Mr Allardyce, who was also the team’s photographer, said: “From the beginning his natural talent shone through and it was suggested he might ski race on a serious basis.

“Funding for any athletes is tough and none more so than for a fledging ski racer from Ghana.

“Eventually he was sponsored to ski in Italy and has spent four years training in the Dolomites, in Northern Italy and ski-racing all over Europe, before meeting the qualification criteria for the men’s slalom.”

Mr Allardyce’s other duties involved bag carrying, videoing, going to parties, skiing, selling T-shirts, running errands and even bungee jumping.

The Snow Leopard’s small team of six left for Mount Washington, Vancouver Island, on January 30 and joined the Chinese, Austrians, Swiss, Swedes and Germans, 26 teams in all, who were also training on the island.