RESTON, Va. — As 17-year-old Maame Biney made history as the first black woman to qualify for a U.S. Olympic speed skating team, her father cried in the stands.
“I was like, wow, so this is it,” Kweku Biney said.
“All the hard work comes to this day.”
Kweku has been by his daughter’s side since the beginning, though their story began thousands of miles away from that Olympic ice rink in Utah.
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Maame was born in Accra, Ghana, and lived there until she was 5 years old. When Kweku moved to the U.S. in the 1980s, Maame flew to Maryland for what was only supposed to be a summer visit.
“I just wanted her to come here for the summer because I knew it was going to be hard for me to take care of her with my job and living situation,” he said.
But Maame quickly took to life in the U.S. and decided she wanted to stay. Kweku was initially nervous about raising his daughter alone in a new country, but he found comfort in his faith.
“God answered all those questions for me,” Kewku said.
When they were driving one day, Kewku noticed an advertisement that said “learn to skate.” He asked Maame if she wanted to try, and even though she wasn’t sure what skating was, she gave it a go.
The rest was history.
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Maame was a natural on the ice, but she skated too fast for figure skating. Her instructors suggested speed skating instead.
She trained for years and rose through the ranks of the skating world, earning medals at the Junior World Championships and eventually qualifying for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics in the 500 and 1500-meter short track events.
In South Korea, Maame finished 14th in the 500m and 31st in the 1500m. She plans on competing in the 2022 Olympic Games.
As she turned heads on the rink, her father always cheered her on from the stands, sometimes with an infamous sign that reads, “Kick some hiney, Biney.”
“It was really, really nice to know that he was there cheering me on and knowing that whatever my outcome was, that he’s still going to be proud of me and that he’s still going to love me for even being there,” Maame said.
Kweku said it’s important to him to be a mentor for his daughter because he didn’t have that kind of support as a child.
“I just want to be there for my kids,” he said.
But his support was never overbearing, Maame said. When she thought about quitting the sport, he never forced her to continue.
“He allowed me to be happy, and he allowed me to say when I want to stop skating,” Maame said, though she ultimately continued competing.
Maame said her father’s support is a model for other single parents.
“He’s… also an inspiration to other single parents and letting them know that … if [he] can do this raising a girl, then you can do this raising your son or daughter,” she said.
“I feel inspired by him, and I’m proud of him for being able to raise me.”
A post shared by Maame Afua Biney (@biney.biney) on
As Maame continues her skating career, the outcome of her races might not be certain, but one thing’s for sure—Kweku will be there, cheering her on, just as he did the races before.
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