News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 2 years ago
Rediff.com  » Sports » First-ever Tibet-based athletes to compete in Winter Games

First-ever Tibet-based athletes to compete in Winter Games

January 26, 2022 17:59 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

The report did not specify their ethnicity, but both have Tibetan-sounding names and were born in the Tibet Autonomous Region, where ethnic Tibetans make up over 80% of the population.

IMAGE: The report did not specify their ethnicity, but both have Tibetan-sounding names and were born in the Tibet Autonomous Region, where ethnic Tibetans make up over 80% of the population. Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters

Two Tibet-based athletes will next month become the first from the western frontier region of China to participate in a Winter Olympics after qualifying for Beijing, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

 

The Games will also include five competitors from China's western Xinjiang region, media there reported, including two ethnic Kazakhs, one Uyghur, one Kyrgyz and one from China's Han majority.

Overseas Tibetan and Uyghur rights groups have called for an international boycott of the Beijing Olympics, which begin on February 4, to protest against what they say are human rights abuses in Tibet and the majority Muslim Xinjiang region.

China denies any rights abuses, and says it opposes the "politicisation" of sports.

Tibetans Yongqing Lamu and Ciren Zhandui, both 18, will compete in snowboarding and cross-country skiing, respectively, Xinhua said.

The report did not specify their ethnicity, but both have Tibetan-sounding names and were born in the Tibet Autonomous Region, where ethnic Tibetans make up over 80% of the population.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024