Norwegian athletes gear up for Beijing 2022: Norwegian Ambassador

Norway will send a large delegation to China to attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, with approximately 300 athletes and support staff, Norwegian Ambassador to China Signe Brudeset said on Dec. 9 during an exclusive interview with People's Daily Online.

According to the ambassador, the Norwegian athletes will actively participate in a range of Olympic event categories, such as cross-country skiing, biathlon, skating, etc. "We will be represented at most venues during the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics," she said.

During the interview, the ambassador expressed her great expectations for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, noting that the Norwegian athletes are now preparing to make sure they are in top shape come the start of the Games.

"Norway is the top medal-winning country in the Winter Olympics. The ambition is to do very well in next year's event," she said. "But we expect that we will have some pretty hard competition, including from Chinese athletes."

The ambassador believes that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will boost China's winter sports industry and help China to deliver on its target of getting 300 million Chinese involved in winter sports.

"I hope that Chinese spectators and the public will have an increasing love for winter sports, including also after the Olympics. Chinese people will enjoy being outdoors in the winter, including on skis and doing other outdoor activities," said the ambassador.

The ambassador pointed out that Norway has been cooperating with China in the field of winter sports since 2017 when the two countries signed an official sports cooperation agreement, aiming to exchange experiences on best practices to make the 2022 Beijing winter Olympics a great success.

Photo of Norwegian Ambassador to China, Signe Brudeset. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Ruohan)

"This [China-Norway cooperation in winter sports] is mainly concentrated on cross-country skiing, biathlon, and it has also involved ski jumping. This means that many young athletes from China have been in Norway participating and going to our sports colleges where they have also been practicing together with Norwegian athletes and Norwegian trainers and coaches," she said.

According to the ambassador, the two countries' cooperation in winter sports epitomizes the Olympics' spirit of participation. "It's always good to have exchanges of experiences. From our side, we would like to see that more countries get involved in winter sports," she said.

Serving as the Norwegian ambassador to China for 2.5 years, Madame Brudeset has witnessed the successful cooperation between the two nations in areas other than winter sports. "We have deep and concrete cooperation on the economic front, green development, and climate and environmental issues," said the ambassador. "This is good for the bilateral relationship."

The ambassador also noted that she is looking forward to continuing her role as ambassador to China and hopes to seek out more opportunities for the two nations to further exchange their experiences in "the development of welfare systems like gender equality, pension reforms, and taxation issues."

"The bilateral relationship between Norway and China is quite broad, developing, and in a very positive manner," said the ambassador.