William C Flaherty - Puerto Rican's Long Journey to Beijing 2022 Olympics 

William C Flaherty will this weekend continue one of the most remarkable stories in Olympic Winter Games history when he takes to the slopes for the alpine skiing men’s giant slalom on Sunday.

The younger of two brothers, William follows in the footsteps of sibling Charles Flaherty who, at PyeongChang 2018, became Puerto Rico's first Winter Olympian for 20 years.

Charles’ own journey is remarkable in itself, and owes much to his father Dennis, now sadly deceased, who had to rebuild Puerto Rico’s winter sports insfrastructure to enable his son to compete. 

Puerto Rico is famed for its warm climate and beaches, not its alpine skiers.

But that only begins to tell half the story... for William's journey involves a life-threatening illness that threatened his existence, let alone his ability to compete at an Olympic Winter Games...

Big brother, the life-saver

As a toddler, William was diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistriocytosis, a rare disease in which the body’s organs are attacked by the immune system.

Charles, then aged 7, provided the bone marrow donation that saved his younger brother’s life.

Now, with William aged 17, the younger Flaherty is taking a break from ongoing surgeries – he currently has a benign tumour in his jaw – to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

William was the flag bearer for Puerto Rico at Beijing’s Opening Ceremony, just like Charles was at PyeongChang four years ago, and his looming stint on the slopes looks set to be even more dramatic given his unique tale of survival.

Skiing: the perfect antidote

When William received his diagnosis aged 3, he was given just a 10% chance of surviving.

However, just 10 days after his successful bone marrow transplant, he was released from hospital.

Then, after several rounds of chemotherapy, aged 5, the younger Flaherty was declared healthy enough to follow in his brother’s footsteps, and take to the slopes.

Skiing proved the perfect sport for William as it helped to strengthen his bone density.

Not even a family move from America to Puerto Rico could dampen his enthusiasm for the the sport that had helped him put his traumatic start in life behind him.

Last, but not least

When William – who featured in our Winter Tracks series – takes to the starting gates ahead of his men’s giant slalom run, he’ll be the last competitor of the event, 89th out of 89.

Having been to hell and back, he won’t mind the wait.

“Skiing has been stress relief,” he says. “Pushing through all the things I’ve experienced, how many people can say they’ve been to the Winter Olympic Games?”

“I can’t wait to see him come down that hill and cross the finish line,” says his mother Ann, who is allowed to join William as a result of him being a minor. “I don’t know how I’m going to keep all those emotions in, because I’m just so excited for him.”

Whatever happens, this remarkable family's continuing tale will live in Olympic Winter Games folklore.