Nicolas Claveau-Laviolette’s story of being an Olympic Athlete
Nicolas Claveau-Laviolette is a cross-country skier for Team Venezuela at this year’s Milano-Cortina Olympics. He is the only athlete representing Venezuela this year, and the sixth Venezuelan athlete to ever compete in the Winter Olympic Games. Although the 20-year-old athlete is competing for Venezuela, he was raised in Lévis, Que.
Outside of being an Olympic athlete, Claveau-Laviolette plays on the cross-country ski team for Université Laval in Québec City, where he studies civil engineering. While he is from Lévis, Québec, he was born in Anzoategui, Venezuela. Both his parents are Québecers, and returned to Canada due to his father’s job. Before the Olympics, Claveau-Laviolette had not returned to Venezuela since he was two years old. He retained his dual Canadian-Venezuelan citizenship for the past 20 years, making him eligible to compete for Venezuela in these Olympics.
After failing to qualify for Team Canada, Claveau-Laviolette started to look at the International Ski Foundation and discovered Venezuela has a cross-country ski association. He got in touch with them and received a response in nearly one hour. Knowing he could represent Venezuela, he headed to Finland to qualify for the Olympics. Claveau-Laviolette was ultimately successful, and just needed to renew his Venezuelan passport before Jan. 20. After the kidnapping of Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, by United States forces on Jan. 3, the nation became a no-fly zone and his Olympic hopes were not promising. “I thought my project was dead,” he told Radio-Canada. Fortunately, he was allowed in the country due to his citizenship and could renew his passport while being “permanently accompanied” by the Venezuelan Olympic Committee’s president before the deadline.
Being the sole athlete for Venezuela, Claveau-Laviolette was also their flag-bearer at the opening ceremonies. “It was the best evening,” he told Alexplique on Instagram, “the Venezuelan outfits were cold […] but once I felt the atmosphere and everyone cheering, it was incredible.” He finished in 88th place for the classic sprint, and in 98th place for the 10km freestyle. He told Radio-Canada he did not care about winning, but wanted to represent Venezuela by giving them someone to cheer for and experience the games. “There were people shouting my name all around the course. ‘Let’s go Nicolas! Let’s go Venezuela!’ It’s motivating! It’s energizing!” In another interview, he said, “I am very happy, at least I did not come in last!” Claveau-Laviolette was not seen at the closing ceremonies, instead having to return to Québec City in time for midterms.
Claveau-Laviolette received widespread attention from the Venezuelan population and media. When renewing his passport in January, he conducted numerous television interviews, as many as six in one day. He was also recognized in restaurants and in the streets, with people asking for photos. During his time there, he even met many local professional athletes who all greeted him warmly and wished him luck in the Games.
Venezuela was one of 17 nations that were represented by one athlete. Haiti was also a one-person team, with Stevenson Savart, competing in the skiathlon. Eritrea was represented by Shannon Abeda, who competed against Pakistan’s Muhammad Karim and San Marino’s 17-year-old Rafael Mini in alpine skiing. These athletes had entire countries thrilled to see their nation represented in the Winter Olympics.