by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng
TEHRAN, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- At an altitude of over 3,900 meters, top Iranian skiers welcomed a special guest on Tuesday while training at the Tochal ski resort: The ambassador from China, a country set to host the Beijing Olympic Winter Games in February.
"Beijing, I am coming," members of Iran's national ski team cheered together.
Not everyone present will have the opportunity to head to China's capital.
"Our kids" have several competitions to qualify for the Olympics, said Mohammadreza Saved Doroudi, head of Tehran's provincial ski federation, as Iran has Olympic quotas in the alpine ski group for only one man and one woman.
"We still have not determined who are the best among them," he said, adding that he hopes that the athletes will obtain "very good results" in upcoming competitions and "raise the Iranian flag" in China.
"I wish them success, and I hope they enjoy it in China," Saved Doroudi said.
"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, an Iranian alpine skier born in a house with a beautiful view of snowy mountains who learned to ski at the age of three.
"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," said Saveh Shemshaki, one of the four women's hopefuls for the journey to Beijing this winter.
"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.
He said they have been training on the Tochal tracks for about 20 days after completing bodybuilding exercises in mountainous areas at high altitudes for about three months.
From the viewpoint of the two athletes and Abbas Nazarian, head of the Iran Ski Federation, the Tochal tracks give them a natural advantage.
Like many other countries, the snowy season in Iran usually starts in November, but this year snow has fallen at the Tochal resort beginning in late October.
"In many other countries, the tracks are not even open yet, but we have this track, and our athletes are training," said Nazarian.
Regarding the upcoming Beijing Olympics, judging by the inquiries by the ski federation chief, he said "it seems that we are witnessing one of the best Olympics in China" welcoming participants in the thousands from different corners of the globe.
Noting that the International Ski Federation this year established a new office in China, he pointed out that "this shows China has done a very good job developing this sport there" and that the country could become a base for skiing in Asia.
Meanwhile, he said, despite all the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese government and its ski federations "have done their best" to prepare for staging this leading international sporting event.
At a time when Western politicians are threatening a "diplomatic boycott" of the Olympics, Nazarian, in his interview with Xinhua, also voiced opposition against such actions "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 sport 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.
Similarly, Chang Hua, Chinese ambassador to Iran, also told the athletes and coaches that the Beijing Winter Olympics is a gathering of Olympic athletes and winter sports lovers around the world, not a stage for political posturing.
Recalling 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 the Beijing Winter Olympics and heard "the voice of rightness" in his trip to the Tochal training camp.
He also presented gifts such as souvenirs printed with the mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics to the skiers.
"Now Beijing is poised to welcome you," the Chinese envoy said. "Hello, Beijing," the crowd replied. Enditem