Olympic excitement peaks for ski hopefuls

Iran's elite skiers welcomed a special guest while training last week－the Chinese ambassador to the country, Chang Hua, whose visit to the snow-capped mountains near Teheran raised anticipation levels for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

"Beijing, we are coming," members of Iran's national ski team cheered together at Tochal ski resort.

Just two of those training at Tochal will actually have the chance to make the Games next year, as Iran has secured Olympic quotas in alpine skiing for just one man and one woman.

"Our kids have several competitions to qualify for the Olympics," said Mohammadreza Saved Doroudi, head of Teheran's provincial ski federation.

"We still have not determined who are the best among them," he said, adding that he hopes that his country's athletes can achieve "very good results" in upcoming competitions and "raise the Iranian flag" in China.

"Everyone knows that the Olympics is an event that all athletes want to attend, and to be able to get their best result," said Sadaf Saveh Shemshaki, one of four Iranian female alpine skiers hoping to qualify for the Games.

"We are doing our best under the conditions that have been created for us to be able to train and compete so that we can get our Olympic quota."

"The Games have a name, don't they? It is the Olympics, the biggest event in the world," said another alpine skier Pouria Saveh Shemshaki, who competed for Iran at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

He said they have been training on the Tochal tracks for around three weeks after focusing on strength conditioning at high altitudes for about three months.

Iran's ski season usually begins in November, but this year snow began to fall at Tochal in late October, giving the country's Olympic hopefuls a natural advantage, according to Abbas Nazarian, head of the Iran Ski Federation.

"In many other countries, the pistes are not even open yet, but we have this track, and our athletes are training," said Nazarian, who expects China to stage "one of the best" Winter Olympics to date.

Noting that the International Ski Federation this year established a new office in China, Nazarian believes "this shows China has done a very good job developing the sport "and that the country could become a major hub for skiing in Asia.

He added that, despite all the restrictions necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese government and the country's ski federation "have done their best" to prepare for the Games.

At a time when Western politicians are threatening a "diplomatic boycott" of the Olympics, Nazarian voiced opposition against such action, which he said is "based on some hidden background that is not related to sports".

"If we want to observe the Olympic Charter, we have to take political considerations out of the Games," he said, adding that "the spirit of sports demands that we do not bring politics into the Games".

"All the efforts that have been made to organize an event and a competition of this magnitude should not be turned into political tools undermining the Olympic Charter and the Olympic Games," he said.

Those sentiments echoed comments by China's Ambassador to Iran, Chang Hua, who told the athletes and coaches at Tochal that Beijing 2022 is a gathering of Olympic athletes and winter sports lovers around the world, not a stage for political posturing.

Adding that Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has also condemned the politicization of sporting events, Chang said he has experienced "the passion of the Iranian people and athletes" for Beijing 2022.

He also presented gifts, including Beijing 2022 merchandise, to the Iranian skiers.

"Now Beijing is poised to welcome you," the Chinese envoy said. "Hello, Beijing," the crowd replied in unison.

Xinhua