Saudi Alpine skier Fayik Abdi completes historic participation at Winter Olympics

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s first ever Alpine skier Fayik Abdi on Sunday afternoon completed his historic participation in the giant slalom competition at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The 24-year-old, the sole representative for the Kingdom in China, finished in 45th position with a total time of 2:46:85 after Run 2, with Marco Odermatt of Switzerland taking the gold medal, Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec coming second, and Mathieu Faivre of France securing bronze.

Earlier in the day, Abdi had recorded a time of 1:21:44 in Run 1 to end up in 51st position out of 91 competitors in the first ever Saudi participation at the Winter Games.

Abdi is the first Saudi and Gulf athlete to participate in the Winter Olympics since its inception in 1924. He qualified for the Games in December, after achieving an average of 131.03 points over five of his best-scored races, a record time.

Only five Arab Olympic committees have qualified for the Winter Olympics since it began in Chamonix in the French Alps, namely Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.