Austrian athletes look forward to Beijing 2022: official

VIENNA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Austrian athletes look forward to participating in Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and hope to have a good time there, said the chief of the Austrian Ski Federation.

Christian Scherer, secretary-general of the Austrian Ski Federation, told Xinhua in a recent interview that Austrian athletes and he personally have high expectations for Beijing 2022.

China has had successful experience organizing large-scale competitions, as demonstrated by Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympic Games, he said.

"We are looking forward to meeting friendly volunteers and experiencing a new culture, so we hope to have a good time in Beijing 2022," he said.

Scherer explained that as a powerhouse of snow sports, Austria hopes to win medals in all snow sports disciplines. At present, Austria are strong in alpine skiing, ski jumping, Nordic events, with opportunities for some silverware in snowboard and freestyle skiing.

He noted that due to the coronavirus pandemic, Austrian athletes had been unable to visit the Olympic venues and conduct adaptive training in China, which is a challenge for all athletes preparing for the Games.

They hope to have the opportunity to experience the venues in Beijing as soon as possible and make targeted preparations for this, he said.

He also told Xinhua that in the 2020/2021 winter season, Austria still successfully hosted nearly 50 World Cup and World Champion events, mainly due to the implementation of very strict epidemic prevention measures.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games can learn from the experience gained from every event in Europe and other regions in this season by the international ski federations, and the Austrian Ski Federation is willing to provide helpful information if needed, he added.