How Ralf Etienne is Poised to Become Haiti’s First Winter Paralympian

Ralf Etienne represents a rare intersection of elite finance, personal tragedy, and athletic ambition. His path is remarkable not simply because he is striving to become Haiti’s first Winter Paralympian, but because he is doing so while maintaining a demanding full-time role in investment banking. At Bank of America in London, he balances travel, long hours, and a high performance standard at work alongside international ski training with the Swiss team in the Alps. [1]

Etienne’s early life set the stage: at age 20 during the 2010 earthquake, both his legs were crushed; after treatment and rehabilitation, he moved to the U.S., rebuilt his education—from community college to a Christian university to an M.B.A.—before entering finance in 2022. [1] His adaptive mindset is core to both his athletic and professional reintegration.

Immigration policy played a decisive role. In 2025, U.S. Department of Homeland Security restrictions on green-card processing for Haitians and work-visa travel limitations pushed Etienne to relocate to London. Bank of America supported this move, which offered proximity to alpine training venues, but disrupted his schedule and delayed training and qualification progress. [1]

Etienne has been successful in meeting key qualification criteria: one race in Winter Park, Colorado already under his belt; more European races scheduled before the Games. With Haiti officially nominating him, the remaining requirement is meeting performance/pass/fail standards set by the Paralympic Committee to confirm entry into the three-track skiing event for athletes who compete with one leg. [1]

Strategic implications:

• For National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) in countries with limited winter sports infrastructure, diaspora athletes can create pathways to representation—but only with adequate support in training access, visa stability, and institutional backing.
• For corporations, Etienne’s case illustrates how employee potential beyond the job can create reputational upside, but requires flexibility in policies—over visas, travel, leave—and willingness to accommodate outlier career paths without compromising performance in core roles.
• For international sporting authorities, Etienne’s qualification raises questions about equity—to judge whether merit-based qualification systems are sufficiently inclusive and whether support structures for athletes from developing countries are equitable (equipment, coaching, race access, travel costs).
• At policy level, the case underscores how immigration and visa policies can directly constrain international sports opportunities, talent development, and national representation, not merely residence or labor mobility.

Open questions:

• Can Etienne meet the remainder of international qualifying benchmarks in the compressed timeline before the 2026 Games? What risks (injuries, training delays, visa issues) remain?
• What funding, sponsorship, or federational support will he have access to—both for competition travel and equipment? Will his role speak to broader channeling of resources into Paralympic sport in Haiti?
• How will Bank of America manage employee workload and expectations given Etienne’s dual commitments? What precedents or policies does this set for other employees with similar ambitions?
• If Etienne qualifies and competes, what long-term impact might this have on winter sports development in Haiti, the Caribbean, and among athletes with disabilities in developing nations?