Turkish alpine skier aspires to achieve best result at Beijing Winter Olympics

ISTANBUL, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- With no more than two weeks until the Beijing Winter Olympics, Turkish alpine skier Ozlem Carikcioglu expressed her determination to give the best performance she could during her intensive training in Turkey's eastern province of Erzurum.

The 28-year-old athlete, who struggled in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea, is one of the seven Turkish athletes who will go to Beijing this week for the Winter Olympics, which will run from Feb. 4 to 20.

"I had a bad performance in PyeongChang because ... I got sick with anxiety, having a fever of 39 degrees Celsius," Carikcioglu said in an online interview with Xinhua.

But she worked very hard during the last four years on improving herself "mentally and physically" to get ready for Beijing.

"As a result, I'm more optimistic about the (Beijing Winter) Olympics," Carikcioglu told Xinhua.

She said the trip to China is for not only the Olympic Games, but also a glimpse of the Chinese culture that has long fascinated her.

"Beijing appears to be extremely intriguing. It has always been one of the places on my list to visit as a tourist, and I want to learn more about the Chinese culture," the Turkish athlete said.

The forthcoming Winter Olympics, Carikcioglu believes, will provide an opportunity to attract more to winter sports in Turkey, where people have so far showed limited interest in winter sports like skiing.

For the past four years, she has been trying to promote winter sports in Turkey by creating a skiing club in Erzurum, where she has been training new skiers and sharing her experience.

Despite a shortage of snowy days compared to the Alpine region and a lack of skiing culture among Turkish people, she believes that skiing will become increasingly popular in Turkey in the future.

"Skiing does not generate much interest or support in Turkey, and I am working hard to raise awareness of the sport," she said. "My students are already more enthused with the sport than I."