Kerr given green light to race for Jamaica in 2010

Current U.S. skicross team member Errol Kerr found out on Monday that the FIS has granted him approval to represent Jamaica in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
    Though Kerr — a New York native born to an American mother and Jamaican father — is a highly ranked member of the U.S. team and currently ranked 24th in the world, he has been wanting to ski for Jamaica for nearly a decade.
    Around the time of his father’s death at age 12, Kerr began the process to gain Jamaican citizenship.
    “I’ve been working on it for years, and finally this year it all came together,” he told Ski Racing.  

Current U.S. skicross team member Errol Kerr found out on Monday that the FIS has granted him approval to represent Jamaica in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
    Though Kerr — a New York native born to an American mother and Jamaican father — is a highly ranked member of the U.S. team and currently ranked 24th in the world, he has been wanting to ski for Jamaica for nearly a decade.
    Around the time of his father’s death at age 12, Kerr began the process to gain Jamaican citizenship.
    “I’ve been working on it for years, and finally this year it all came together,” he told Ski Racing.   
    Kerr’s Jamaican heritage is deep. His mother met his father while on vacation. They got married and lived on the island for five years before moving to New York where Kerr was born. His brother currently resides on the island.
    In May, Kerr acquired a Jamaican passport and spent more than two weeks on the island trying to drum up support and sponsorship for his Olympic bid. Subsequently, the country has decided to pony up $250,000 to fund skicross through 2014. He said the decision to leave the U.S. team became easier when he heard funding was available.
    “Once that all came [together] and I’m not stepping away from everything — I’ll have everything over there that I need — that made it a lot easier and made it a no-brainer,” Kerr said.
    He is teaming up with Kristina Koznick’s former coach, Raul Guisado, who is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and coached the U.S. alpine team at two winter Olympics. Spyder will be his clothing sponsor.
    And don’t worry, Kerr fans, he still plans on wearing his trademark neck gator. Though his pink jersey will be replaced by green, black and gold.
    “Maybe I’ll start wearing pink underwear,” he said.