VANCOUVER VOICE: Alpine skiing takes all sorts

DAY 12 in Vancouver and here I was thinking the Winter Olympics were just for the cream of the crop.

SUITED AND BOOTED: Mexican 51-year-old Hubertus Von Hohenlohe is not in it for the glory in Vancouver (Getty Images)

Putting aside some of the ridiculously one-sided women's ice hockey matches, recent alpine skiing press conferences have brought to light that the Olympics is also an experience for the wannabes, the part-timers and the potentially insane to share.

Peru's number one alpine skier Manfred Oettl Reyes was the first to bare his soul.

"It was good," he said of his first run in the giant slalom competition in which he ultimately finished 67th. "Only I lost my ski pole and I don't know exactly where."

Perhaps I'm being a little unfair on Reyes, a 16-year old born and raised in Germany who may well have a bright future in the sport.

Instead, let's turn to Morocco's Samir Azzimani, a 32-year old biomedical student from Paris.

"At the start gate, I was thinking to myself just to be quiet but then I realised I'd forgotten my back protector," said Azzimani.

"In Paris, they call me the Couscous Rocket but I don't care. I am here and I am overly happy. It's a dream come true."

Still unfair? After all, the guy is merely fulfilling a life-long dream. He's never going to win, but it's not about that for him.

Okay, let's turn to Mexico's Hubertus Von Hohenlohe - a musician, photographer, athlete, and perhaps most impressively, the oldest competitor of the Games at 51 years old.

"Today I feel even older," said Von Hohenlohe, competing in his fifth Olympics in Vancouver.

"Once you see the Olympic rings, you see everybody and you think ‘what am I doing here?'.

"At 51, I'm not supposed to be competing but I think humanity has evolved a lot. Motivation is there to keep fit.

"My girlfriend and kids asked me to carry on and after getting better and better I qualified and I am here.

"I'm not impressed about the other guys winning. I've raced at a lot of World Cups. Here it's about looking.

"The whole world watches this. Don't look at my time but at my style and my suit."

Like I said, potentially insane. But can we really sit back and laugh? Can we really say, ‘what are you doing at the Olympics - you're not good enough?  Of course.

But do we wish we were in their shoes, hurling themselves down the slopes in the company of the most celebrated athletes in the World? Of course.