Lebanese Skier Kiana Saqqal Competes Against World Champions in Alpine Skiing... and Records a Respectable Result at the Winter Olympics

Athlete Kiana Saqqal officially opened the Lebanese delegation’s participation in the fourth Winter Youth Olympic Games, hosted by Gangwon, South Korea, from January 19 to February 1. On Tuesday, she took part in the alpine skiing competition (slalom) accompanied by the delegation head and member of the Lebanese Olympic Committee, Raymond Sukkar. In a communication with him, he noted that despite the fierce competition against world champions in skiing and the harsh weather conditions, with temperatures reaching 20 degrees below zero—a rare occurrence, in addition to her young age (born in 2006) and participating in an Olympic event for the first time through classification and qualification on points along with her four teammates, which in itself is considered an achievement—Saqqal achieved a commendable result, finishing in 37th place out of 80 participants. She recorded a time of 1:01:69 in the first run and 1:04:58 in the second, totaling 2:05:27 over both runs. Sukkar pointed out that the starting point of the race was at an altitude of 1,142 meters, while the finish line was at 870 meters. In the overall results, Italian Georgina Colombo took first place with a time of 1:41:10. Immediately after the race, Sukkar contacted the president of the Lebanese Olympic Committee, Dr. Pierre Jalakh, to inform him about Saqqal’s result. Dr. Jalakh expressed his pride and asked to convey his greetings and appreciation to Saqqal, urging athletes to continue exerting efforts to showcase Lebanon's sports image in the best light despite all circumstances and challenges. Sukkar also made a similar call to the president of the Lebanese Ski and Biathlon Federation, Freddy Krouz, who praised Saqqal's performance and encouraged her to continue competing strongly and seriously under the national banner. Furthermore, athlete Alexander Hayek is scheduled to compete in the same event for the youth category on Wednesday, having prepared for the Games through participation in several international events.