Olympians, sports officials in Mideast hold high expectations for Beijing Winter Olympics

CAIRO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- With the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics being around the corner, sports organizations and athletes in the Middle East have expressed their warm wishes and high expectations for the upcoming athletics gala to be a great success.

"Together for the future, we wish great success for China," the Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC) wrote on its official Facebook page, sharing a promotional video of the Beijing Winter Olympics which will take place from Feb. 4 to 20, followed by the Winter Paralympics from March 4 to 13.

The Cairo Tower, an iconic landmark in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, was lit up on Monday night with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics logo to show support for the international sporting event.

"We have no doubts that China will succeed in hosting the Winter Olympics, just as it did in hosting the 2008 Beijing Games, which was an impressive and beautiful edition of the Olympics," said Sherif El-Erian, the EOC's secretary-general.

Turkish alpine skier Ozlem Carikcioglu, 28, expressed her determination to give the best performance she could during the upcoming Games.

Being one of the seven Turkish athletes who will go to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, Carikcioglu believed the forthcoming Olympics will provide an opportunity to attract more Turks to winter sports, in which people in Turkey have so far showed limited interest.

Ali Oto, head of Turkey's Ski Federation, said he and his team expected the Beijing Winter Games to be an overwhelming success, noting "Beijing will have its name inscribed in history" for hosting both Summer and Winter Olympics.

Cesar Arnouk, a 21-year-old Olympian from Lebanon who will compete in the Alpine skiing event, pinned his hopes on a good performance in Beijing that would "put Lebanon on the international sports map" and "give a morale boost" to his country mired in an economic crisis.

Arnouk is one of the three athletes who will represent Lebanon, a popular winter sports location in the Middle East, in competing in two events at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Qian Minjian on Jan. 19, Boutros Jalkh, president of the Lebanese Olympic Committee, said he hoped the Beijing Winter Olympics would bring hope and joy to the people around the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

His view was echoed by Hossein Saveh Shemshaki, an Iranian Alpine skier who has competed in two Olympics, Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.

The Iranian called for more countries and athletes to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics for "togetherness and friendship of nations" against the global disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saudi Arabia, a country mostly covered by desert with relatively little involvement in winter sports, has also sent an athlete to Beijing.

Fayik Abdi, the Saudi Alpine skier, is the first athlete from Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf region to compete in Winter Olympics.

Abdulaziz Albaqous, director of corporate communications of the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, affirmed the kingdom's complete confidence in China's ability to organize such a huge event.

Albaqous hoped the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics would encourage more Saudis to participate in winter sports.

When asked about his expectation for the Beijing Games, Yiv Ashkenazi, head of the Israeli delegation that includes six athletes competing in four events, said he was confident that the Chinese would organize them well because they had done it before.

The Beijing Winter Olympics will be the first international multi-sport event to be held as scheduled since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Nearly 3,000 athletes from approximately 90 countries and regions will participate in the Beijing Olympics, with the largest number of events and gold medals in the history of the Winter Olympics.