Interview: Beijing 2022 to arouse interest of Turks in winter sports: insider

ISTANBUL, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will have a tremendous impact on boosting the interest in winter sports in Turkey further, Turkish National Olympic Committee Sports Director Erdem Dogan told Xinhua at an interview.

He also expects Turkish athletes, who will attend the games in a few days, to set good examples to younger generations in the country to encourage more to join these winter sports.

"The most important responsibility that falls on all of our Olympic athletes is to be role models to younger athletes who will follow them," Dogan said at the committee's headquarter in Istanbul.

Turkey will send seven athletes in short-track speed skating, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and ski jumping branches to take part in Beijing Winter Olympics that will run from Feb. 4 to 20, said Dogan, who will accompany the team during the games.

"I think they can set good example with their sound performances," he stressed, adding that the athletes will seek to achieve their best scores, and chase to obtain Turkey's first Olympic medal in the winter games.

Turkish 19-year-old athlete Furkan Akar will compete in short-track speed skating for the first time in his country's Olympic history, according to Dogan.

Turkey also has high expectations from Fatih Arda Ipcioglu, a 24-year-old ski jumper, he added.

Erzurum, a province in the eastern end of Turkey, played a very important role in training of these athletes, said Dogan. The mountainous region of the province has decent slopes, high-quality tracks, and gyms available for indoor sports.

In Dogan's view, the area has become Turkey's winter sports hubs with the establishment of new sports facilities significantly after hosting the 2011 Winter Universiade and the 2017 European Olympic Youth Winter Festival.

"We see that we have also become more competitive in many branches of the winter sports," he spoke of the achievement of Turkey after hosting the two games.

Dogan believes that the Olympics in Beijing will have a tremendous impact on boosting the interest in winter sports in Turkey even further, contributing Turkey to expand its pool of young athletes.