VAL DI FIEMME, 23rd February 2013 - “work, freedom, homeland”, the motto of Togo, a West African country on the Gulf of Guinea situated between Ghana and Benin. In this state, average temperatures between 27 and 30 degrees Celsius are measured for every month of the year; however, winter sport fever prevails in the country these days. Since Togo is represented for the first time by a cross-country skier – Viossi-Akpedje Madja - at the Nordic World Championship in Val di Fiemme.

A small group of people led by Eve-Roger Evenamede, the president of the Ski Federation in Togo, and his deputy Edorh Hyacinthe, campaigns for the winter sport in this country. “We are happy to be present in Val di Fiemme, because we need such events to gain further experience and to improve ourselves” says Evenamede. And, believe it or not: “the fact that Togo is represented for the first time at a Nordic Ski World Championship makes our people super-happy”. And this is not only a big deal in Africa; the Team Togo was also analysed in detail by the German TV media.
But this must not remain as an individual guest appearance. “Our goal is to bring the winter sport closer to the population of Togo on a permanent basis and to give them the opportunity to learn more about it. Lots of Togolese people who can ski are living abroad – that is why we want to bring together, in a certain way, different experiences of people of the same state”, says the president.

Recruiting winter sport athletes for Togo is not only an adventure but also a Social Media Project. “Togolese people or even foreigners who want to start to compete for the Team Togo can contact the team on Facebook”, says Hyacinthe. “If we find a ski jumper, Togo will also be present at the lists of ski jump applicants”.  Read more about it at: http://www.facebook.com/TeamTogo.ski?ref=ts&fref=ts

Peter Riedel, which has had different discussions with entrepreneurs and prominent sports officials at the World Championship, did not miss the opportunity to get in touch with “Team Togo”. After all, it is planned to build a huge leisure park of two hectares in the capital Lomé, in which the Togolese people can have a go at different types of this winter sport and try out the various kinds of sport. Evenamede and Hyacinthe were highly impressed by the opportunities which Peter Riedel GmbH offered to them and they promised: “We keep in touch!”