Despite the country’s huge potential for winter sports, it hasn’t made advancements in international ski competitions so far. The national ski team will be participating in three world championships till the end of this year (ending March 20) while the team is not yet suitably prepared to earn good results.
With the resignation of Naser Talebi, the former head of the country’s ski federation, the federation didn’t have any professional supervisor for a year. The Sports Selection Council is expected to choose an experienced president for the federation as soon as possible. This can help the country’s athletes to gain better results in the next Olympic Winter Games, Mehr News Agency reported.
In the last Winter Olympics held on February 7-23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia, with the participation of 2,500 athletes from 88 countries of the world, Iran didn’t earn any medals.
While Iran has the Middle East’s biggest ski resort at Khoshaku in Urumia, West Azerbaijan Province, the resort has been deprived of minimum facilities including access roads and other necessary services for several years. “But at present, the problems are being addressed by the ministry of youth affairs and sports and currently the resort is ready to operate at an international level,” said Behrouz Amiri, the provincial secretary of the ski board.
Measures Taken
Amiri pointed to the recent measures taken to reform winter sport in the country. “Experienced coaches have been employed to train talented skiers to make them ready to participate in international ski competitions. So far, 40 talented skiers among adolescent and youth groups have been identified to receive necessary training.”
They will be sent to the national tournaments at first, and then the best skiers will be selected to take part in the international championships, he said.
“At present, we are waiting for appropriate snow precipitation in the region to start our activities at the resort as the amount of snowfall received so far is not enough,” he added.
