Q:Facts: - sport: alpine skiing - birth name: laurence thoms - country: fiji - birth date: 26 march 1980 - name: laurence thoms - nationality: fijian - birth place: suva , dominion of fiji Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of laurence thoms .
A:
laurence thoms -lrb- born march 26 , 1980 -rrb- is a fijian alpine skier who was born in suva .he represented fiji at the 2002 winter olympics in salt lake city , and attracted media attention as a competitor from a tropical nation at the winter olympics .thoms was fiji 's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony , being his country 's only representative , and was the first pacific islander to qualify for the winter games in his own right -lrb- rather than through the wild cards process -rrb- .he competed in the slalom and giant slalom events .he failed to complete the slalom , but completed the giant slalom and finished fifty-fifth with a time of 2:41.98 .spectators reportedly cheered and encouraged him , and '' went crazy when he crossed the finish line '' .one newspaper described thoms ' participation as exemplifying '' the true spirit of the games '' .before taking part in the olympics , thoms had worked as a ski instructor in new zealand .his participation in the olympics was funded by a retired swiss businessman living in fiji , who had founded the fiji alpine ski association .