Tibetan skiers gear up for Olympic Games

Skiers from the Tibet autonomous region recently sent good wishes via short videos for the coming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games from different cities of the world, Tibet TV reported.

The wishes were sent from Wenquan county of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region; Chengde, Hebei province; Finland and Austria.

An official ski team was established in 2018 in the region to support China's national strategy of encouraging 300 million people to participate in winter sports — a government commitment to the all-around development of ice and snow sports.

After years of development, the team has grown into one of the region's most competitive. For example, Tibetan skier Sonam Chodron, won fourth in individual cross-country skiing and women's short-distance races at the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2020, the best result for a Chinese athlete in an international skiing event.

Another Tibetan athlete, Tsering Dradul, won third in a cross-country event in the 2021-22 lineup of the International Ski Federation.

Tibetan skiers Sonam Chudron, Kelsang Chodron, Tsering Dradul, Tenzin Wangdu, Rabgyal, Nyima Yangjin and Yangjin Lhamo have all been enrolled by the national cross-country ski team and are working to qualify for various international games and to prepare for the upcoming Winter Olympics.