Shortly after his move to the Norwegian capital Oslo, Smith’s passion for the outdoors piqued an interest in skiing.

“I loved to run, cycle, swim outside, and then I moved to Norway as the snow was falling and the winter was coming,” he explained.

“I thought to myself, I have two options here: either I lean into this or I hibernate.”

Smith chose to embrace the conditions in Scandinavia and, as fate would have it, his new hobby led to him meeting Allan Corona, a Mexican cross-country skier.

The two men have since formed a close bond, becoming training partners and also competing alongside one another on the international circuit.

“I just decided to take the bull by the horns,” Smith said.

“If Allan can represent Mexico, why can’t I represent South Africa?”

Then came bigger questions and an ambitious target.

“When’s the next Olympics?” Smith continued. “Do we have anyone representing us? No.

“Is it humanly possible to qualify in two years’ time and represent your country in three? I proved that it is.”

Smith secured South Africa a spot at Milan-Cortina at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim at the end of February.

A 38th-placed finish in a 7.5km race – some 10 seconds behind Corona – earned him enough ranking points from the world governing body to achieve a dream which appeared unlikely when he took up the sport.