Interview: The Beijing Winter Olympics will be "unparalleled" - visit zimbabwean youth minister Coventry

"I competed in Beijing in 2008 and I knew that China was capable of hosting an unparalleled competition. So I believe that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be equally unparalleled, or even more exciting. Zimbabwe's Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Entertainment, Costa Coventry, said in an interview with a Xinhua reporter in the capital Harare on the 18th.

Coventry, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee and a gold medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, said that although the world is still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, athletes in ice and snow sports from all over the world have never stopped training, and the Beijing Winter Olympics is the stage for them to shine. In order to host a simple, safe and wonderful Winter Olympic Games, the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have made many efforts to take a number of measures such as "closed-loop management" to ensure the health and safety of athletes and other participants, for which she expressed gratitude and believed that the Beijing Winter Olympics would be a complete success.

As one of the most recognized swimmers in Africa, Coventry has won seven Olympic medals for Zimbabwe. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, she won 1 gold and 3 silver in the swimming pool of the National Aquatics Center "Water Cube", so Beijing has very good memories in her heart.

At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Coventry will attend the opening ceremony as a member of the International Olympic Committee and present awards to the winning athletes. She told reporters that she learned that the National Aquatics Center has been transformed from "Water Cube" to "Ice Cube", which will host the curling competition of the Winter Olympics and the wheelchair curling competition of the Winter Paralympic Games, and she is very much looking forward to enjoying the wonderful performances of the players there and cheering for them.

Coventry said that in recent years, Zimbabwe and China have carried out extensive cooperation in sports, culture and other fields, and a number of Zimbabwean athletes have gone to China to participate in or train, which has played a positive role in the development of Zimbabwe's sports cause. She said that China has made many achievements in promoting traditional culture and art. As Zimbabwe's Youth and Sports Minister, she will be committed to working with the Chinese side to enhance the global visibility of her country's traditional culture and arts by learning from China's successful experience.

Source: Xinhua News Agency