Six Chinese athletes participating in the Winter Olympics hail from Xinjiang
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING – A total of six Chinese athletes participated in Winter Olympics Beijing 2022 comes from the Xinjiang Autonomous Region whose majority population is from the Uyghur Muslim ethnic minority. The six athletes are Ahenaer Adake and Tian Ruining who will compete in speed skating, Dinigeer Yilamujiang (cross-country skiing), Hadesi Badelihan, Bayani Jialin and Wang Ziyang (all three are snowboarding athletes), Chinese media reported on Monday ( 7/7).2/2022).
Judging by their names, four of the six athletes from the northwest China provincial region are from Uyghur Muslim ethnic minorities, namely Ahenaer, Dinigeer, Hadesi and Bayani. Tian, Dinigeer and Bayani are known to train in Xinjiang. Ahanaer, 20, placed 17th in the women’s 3,000 meter speed skating race on Saturday (5/2). Although he did not reach the podium in his Olympic debut, he received rave reviews from Chinese netizens.
Dinigeer and Bayani, both come from Altay city, Xinjiang, which is believed to be the origin of skiing by humans. His best achievement at the event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS) in 2019 was recorded in the history of the Chinese team.
Dinigeer had the opportunity to carry the final torch during the opening of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games at the National Stadium on Friday (4/2/2022) in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach and several leaders. of state or government.
The 20-year-old Uighur girl was chosen as the main torchbearer because of her historic background, Beijing 2022 Olympics spokesperson Zhao Weidong told reporters on Sunday (6/2/2022). But Denigeer’s appointment has drawn criticism from outside China for politicizing Uyghurs at the Olympics, which was marked by a diplomatic boycott of alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams responded to criticism: “He’s here as a competitive athlete. As you know from the Olympic Charter, we can’t discriminate against people based on where they come from. and their journey.
Although Xinjiang is known worldwide as one of the origins of skiing, the Chinese national team has only a handful of athletes from the region. Two speed skiers from Xinjiang participated in Calgary 1988 in Canada, Albertville 1992 in France and Lillehammer 1994 in Norway. In the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, two speed skiers and freestyle skiers from Xinjiang also participated.
Xinjiang successfully hosted the National Winter Championships in 2016. A year later, the local government began working with China’s National Sports Agency (SGAS) to roll out a comprehensive training program using athletes who excellent in ice and snow sports to face the Beijing Olympics in 2022.
source: Between
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