Alexander Ginnis will carry the flag for Greece’s five-member delegation at the 25th Winter Olympic Games, set to begin on February 6. But who is the champion skier representing a country better known for sun-soaked shores than snow-covered peaks?
For Ginnis, snow is not just a backdrop—a fleeting Instagram story or a temporary distraction from Greece’s obsession with endless summer. It is a battlefield, one he has learned to navigate from childhood, mastering steep slopes and the razor-thin margins of split-second decisions.
© Andreas Putz
If there were an algorithm predicting the athletic trajectory of a boy growing up between Athens’ southern suburbs of Glyfada and Vouliagmeni, it would likely have placed him on a wind-swept sailboard, riding waves, steering a yacht, or spiking a ball on a beach volleyball court. Yet Ginnis chose the solitude of alpine descent and the adrenaline of a sport still nearly unknown—and, to some, almost exotic—in his homeland.
The story of this 31-year-old skier is one of persistence, faith, and resilience. He took his first ski lessons from his father, a coach, on Mount Parnassus. At 12, he moved to Austria, and four years later, he relocated to his mother’s homeland, the United States.
© Andreas Putz
There, he trained under legendary winter sports athletes, honing his talent and work ethic until he earned a place on the national team. Yet fortune was not always on his side. A series of injuries cost him appearances at World Championships and the Olympics. Even after ten surgeries, Ginnis refused to give in.
Since 2020, when he took the initiative to compete under the Greek flag, he has achieved what once seemed impossible.
© Joerg Mitter
In early February 2023, he claimed second place in the slalom at a World Cup event in Chamonix—his favorite course—and shortly after, he won the silver medal in the same discipline at the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Courchevel. In doing so, he became the first—and only—Greek athlete to reach the podium at the highest level of winter sports.
