Twenty-three year-old freestyle skier, Errol Kerr, has chosen to represent Jamaica at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he is scheduled for the slopes on February 21. The games will get underway on Friday, February 12.

Kerr will line up in the Ski Cross event. This is the first time that Ski Cross will be featured at the Winter Olympics and Kerr is hoping that he will medal to make another first for Jamaica.

In the Ski Cross event, competitors ski down a course that can have jumps, rollers and banks, and can travel at speeds of up to 70 mph. In day one of this competition, each skier races against the clock. On day two, four skiers will race at a time, jostling each other for position. Deliberate contact is not allowed in the contest and can lead to disqualification.

Kerr, who was born in the United States to a Jamaican father and an American mother, elected to represent Jamaica because Jamaica is the land of his father and is in his DNA. He was quoted as saying “I have a whole family, a whole island behind me, that’s why I chose to ski for Jamaica."