Who is James Pak from Rendezvous with Rama and what is their importance?

Lieutenant James Pak is junior officer on board Endeavour. The officer's main interests are sex and sports. He was a participant in the Lunar Olympics a year prior to the mission, but he lost the competition due to technical difficulties. He uses his own sky-bike, which he christened "Dragonfly," to fly over the New York levees and reach the southern part of Rama.