Look to the past: Klaus Jungbluth, the man who took Ecuador to the Olympic Winter Games

Klaus Jungbluth had fantasised about representing Ecuador in an international competition - just not at the Olympic Winter Games. The reason wasn’t only that no athlete from his country had ever competed at the Games, nor even that Ecuador had no Winter Sports Federation. It was simply that snow is rare in Ecuador. 

You need a strong determination to overcome those obstacles - the kind that makes you wake up in the morning to train on motorways with roller skis when there is no traffic… sometimes with your wife in a car behind you to let other drivers know you are there. 

It’s the type of determination that can make new opportunities out of missed ones. Such was the case of Jungbluth, who had trained as a weightlifter until a serious knee injury caused him to change tack. And while searching for an alternative to his life’s passion,  Jungbluth found skiing.

Roller skiing on the motorway

Klaus Jungbluth lived in Europe for five years. He studied Physiotherapy in the Czech Republic and a Masters degree in Physiology and Sports Science in Norway. It was there that he was diagnosed with his knee injury but also found a new way to train.

“I learned about the sport when I was studying in Europe, but I did not practice it," he told Olympics.com. “When I returned to Ecuador, I liked the idea and I brought some roller skis with me. And it was with that equipment that I started practising”.

Skiing allowed him to exercise without causing more damage to his joints, but the conditions were precarious. In Ecuador, snow can only be found at 4,500m above sea level, so his only training options were on the motorways or the widest avenues of Guayaquil. Many skiers use roller skis in the summer, but in his case there was no alternative.

Have you ever heard of a skier struggling to adapt to the snow?

“The first time I ever skied on the snow it was a bit of a drastic change because up until that moment I had practiced on roller skis. And there are many things to know about skiing on the snow that cannot be practiced on roller skis,” he told Olympics.com. In another interview with El Universo, he explained how the challenging training routine took time and patience. "It took me two years until I felt somewhat comfortable and I could think about competing.”

In order to get acclimated, Klaus would travel at least once a year to Italy, his wife’s country, where he got in touch with former Olympic cross-country skier Laura Bettega. She would be one of the three people who would walk next to him at the PyeongChang 2018 Opening Ceremony.

Paving the way for Ecuadorian winter sports

Klaus Jungbluth’s first Olympic experience was at Rio 2016, although it wasn’t as a sportsperson. At the time he was working as a physiotherapist for the Ecuadorian Olympic Committee (COE) and as such he was part of his country's delegation in Brazil.

That summer proved key to his Olympic journey. Prior to that, Jungbluth had been unable to represent Ecuador as the country had no skiing or winter sports federation. However, that year, together with fellow cross-country skier José Gabriel Chang, he convinced his country’s Olympic committee to create one.

His first official competition was in October 2016, and in February 2017, less than a year before the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, he competed at his first World Championships. However, an immense challenge lay in front of him: to earn enough points to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games, while still “learning” the sport of skiing and moving abroad with his family.

Jungbluth has lived in Australia since the summer of 2017, where he is working towards a PhD in Exercise Physiology at the University of the Sunshine Coast. When it comes to snow, the conditions are very similar to those in Ecuador, so he continues to rely on roller skis.

After strong results in Australia, Chile and Argentina, in October 2017 he confirmed his Olympic berth with his results at two roller skiing competitions in Sao Carlos, Brazil.

Another kind of success

To prepare himself for the biggest competitions, Jungbluth travels to the competition venues in advance to adapt to the snow. Ahead of PyeongChang 2018, he travelled to Italy where he met his coach Laura Bettega, and spent a few weeks training there before travelling to the Republic of Korea to make history.

At the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, Klaus Jungbluth became the first athlete to ever wave the Ecuadorian flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games. “It’s hard to describe it. It was a great pride for me and for all Ecuadorians,” he told Olympics.com.

Jungbluth finished 108th in the cross-country 15km freestyle event, 20 minutes behind gold medallist Dario Cologna, but his was also a triumph of a certain kind.

“I tried to set an example, that if you want to achieve a goal, even if it’s difficult or it’s very far away, you just have to keep trying. That’s an example that I want to set for my family, and my kids, but also for the people pursuing a sport in Ecuador,” he told ABC.

The example that still lives on, as Jungbluth once again aims to compete in a second Olympic Games at Beijing 2022. And although he was unable to secure a quota for Ecuador at the 2021 World Championships, he will do everything in his power to fight for his ticket during the upcoming season.