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Arturo Kinch (born 15 April 1956), a facilities project supervisor for Piedmont Airlines, is the athlete who convinced the International Olympic Committee to allow countries with no snow to compete in the Winter Olympic Games. Prior to the 1980 Olympic Games, only countries with winter conditions had participated. Through his efforts, Kinch was able to race at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Games, as the first athlete to do so from a tropical country. His participation predates the Jamaican Bobsled team that was featured in the film, Cool Running. His Olympic performances embraced the original Olympic spirit; he is a true amateur rather than a professional athlete with corporate sponsorship. Additionally, Kinch was the only skier worldwide that competed as both an Alpine and Cross- Country racer. Following Lake Placid in 1980, Kinch also competed at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics 1984, the Calgary Winter Olympics 1988, the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics 2002, and the Torino Winter Olympics 2006. In 1982 he completed the 50 kilometer cross-country race at the Oslo Nordic World Championships and received the keys of Oslo from King Olav V of Norway. Kinch has been one of only three skiers from Costa Rica in Winter Olympic Games history, and is one of the longest Olympic participants in Olympic history.
Born the seventh child in a family that would grow to a total of eleven and the son of missionary parents in Costa Rica, Kinch moved to the US and then enrolled at Rockmont College (now Colorado Christian University) in 1974 on a soccer scholarship.
In college, Kinch played basketball to keep in shape but became a seldom-used reserve. His roommate invited Kinch to try out skiing to stay in shape, where he discovered his natural affinity for the sport. Kinch would score the most points on the ski team competitions, despite his inexperience, spurring coaches to encourage him to continue with the sport.
After he graduated from the College in 1979 with degrees in biblical studies, camping, and recreation, Kinch continued racing.
In 1978 he founded the Costa Rica Ski Association, initiating the arduous process of qualifying for the 1980 MCMLXXX Olympic Winter Games, after learning eligibility for international competition required membership in a national ski association. In Lake Placid Kinch competed as Costa Rica's first and only Olympic skier, followed by the 1982 Nordic World Championships, the 1984 MCMLXXXIV Olympic Winter Games, the 1988 MCMLXXXVIII Olympic Winter Games, the 2002 MMII Olympic Winter Games, and the 2006 MMVI Olympic Winter Games. In 2004 Kinch was inducted into the Colorado Christian University's Hall of Fame. CCU completed a new residence complex in 2019, Rockmont Hall, christening the complex's eatery as "Arturo's Cafe" to celebrate his exemplary, persevering, and inspiring sportsmanship to students.
Kinch is married, has six grandchildren, and lives in North Carolina.
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