He’d traded his 10-year residency at Burning Man for the hermetic existence of an Olympic athlete, his all-nighters in Ibiza for goggles and a facemask in the open air. And still Benjamin Alexander could not escape the damn virus. He’d traced an initial bout with Covid-19 this time last year to a chairlift, en route to becoming the Cool Runnings of the slopes — after learning to ski at age 32, Alexander will represent Jamaica next month as its first-ever alpine racer at the Winter Olympics. He’d been double-vaccinated, then boosted in November.
Late last month, though, the chalet scene at a qualifying event in Montenegro broke on through. By the time he arrived home for Christmas in London, Alexander had a sore throat, and the aches weren’t from his family’s spare bed. Of course he’d tested positive again; this is the Omicron Olympics he’s bracing for.
Benjamin…
