Tongan alpine skier at World Championships [1]
Friday, February 8, 2019 - 14:03. Updated on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 - 20:16.
Kasete Skeen (36) will compete at 2019 FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in Åre, Sweden aiming to become Tonga's first Olympic alpine skier.
He will compete next week in the Giant Slalom qualification race at the Åre World Championships in a major step towards achieving his ultimate goal of the Olympics.
He is also the first Tongan to compete at Alpine Skiing World Championships at St Moritz in 2017.
Kasete traded in his day job as Theatre Manager at Opera Holland Park in London in 2016 and moved to the Alps to pursue his dream.
However, his ambition to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea was cut short when he ruptured his ACL knee ligament when training in New Zealand.
While undergoing rehabilitation he moved to Sweden, learned Swedish and took up a job in the Åre ski area to help fund his return to competition.