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Heard about the Ghanian dubbed the 'Snow Leopard' who was introduced to snow after landing a job as a receptionist at an indoor snow arena in Milton Keynes.?

Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong

Glasgow-born Nkrumah-Acheampong is Ghana's first Winter Olympian and only saw snow for the first time five years ago.

Dad-of-two Nkrumah-Acheampong - nicknamed the Snow Leopard - will compete in the Alpine skiing slalom and giant slalom events.

The 33-year-old was born in Scotland while his father was studying for a postgraduate degree but he grew up in Africa before moving back to Britain as a student where he was introduced to snow after landing a job as a receptionist at an indoor snow arena in Milton Keynes.

He says: "All I had ever known about skiing was watching a James Bond film, so it really just took off from there. The coaches said I had natural talent and I've never found skiing difficult."

Robel Teklemariam

When he was eight, Teklemariam's mother, who worked for the United Nations, was transferred to New York and the Ethiopian, without a word of English, found himself at boarding school in upstate New York, surrounded by snow.

He soon found he had talent for skiing and Teklemariam then approached the Ethiopian Olympic committee who pointed out that there was no Ethiopian ski team. So the fledgling Olympian created an Ethiopian ski association from scratch, drawing up byelaws and finding sponsorship.

The 35-year-old moved back to Ethiopia four years ago and, although he works as a ski instructor around the world, he knew he had to find a place to train at home.

"I found this street that had just the right elevation and not too much traffic," Teklemariam said about the road that he roller skis up and down six days a week.

Brian McKeever

Legally blind since his late teenage years, Canada's McKeever will achieve a long-cherished dream and a place in the record books when he represents his country.

He will become the first athlete to compete in both a Winter Olympics and a Paralympics.

McKeever suffers from Stargardt's disease and has only 10 per cent vision which is limited to peripheral. He has already won seven medals at previous Paralympic Games, alongside his older brother Robin who acts as his guide.

At the Olympics, however, he will have to race alone.

"Most of my races are mass start events and I will be able to follow other people in those events," McKeever said.

"So there will be lots of guides, you just have to be aware that they are not racing with you, they are trying to beat you."

Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Hohenlohe-Langenburg is a 51-year-old Mexican Alpine skier known as Andy Himalaya who grew up in Austria and currently lives in Liechtenstein.

He is descended from the reigning dynasty of a former principality in what is now Germany and is also a photographer, businessman and pop singer.

Hohenlohe founded the Mexican Ski Federation in 1981 and first skied for Mexico at a Winter Olympics at the 1984 games in Sarajevo.

Since 1982, he has participated in 12 world championships and will be skiing for Mexico in the slalom and giant slalom.

Shiva Keshavan

Dubbed India's fastest man, Keshavan was interested in winter sports from an early age, having been born in Vashisht, a village in the Indian Himalayas.

And at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano he became the youngest luge Olympian - aged just 16.

The 28-year-old Keshavan finished 25th at the 2006 Turin Games but remains relatively unnoticed in cricket-crazy India.

Keshavan's sled broke in training just days before his departure for his fourth Olympics. However, five Indian lawyers pooled 450,000 rupees (£6,105) to help him buy new equipment.

Eurosport