Fayik Abdi

Fayik Rifat Abdi

Personal information
Nationality	Saudi Arabia
Born	(1997-10-08) 8 October 1997 (age 27) San Diego, California, United States
Alma mater	University of Utah
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.88 m)
Sport
Sport	Alpine skiing

Fayik Rifat Abdi (Arabic: فايق عابدي; born October 8, 1997 ^[1]) is an Olympic alpine ski racer from Saudi Arabia. He is the first Saudi Arabian^[2] ski racer to compete in the Winter Olympic Games and the first ever Winter Olympian from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.^[3][4][5] After graduating from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Abdi returned to Saudi Arabia to pursue skiing as a professional sport.^[6]

Early life and education

Abdi was born on October 8, 1997, in San Diego, California. He attended IMG Academy for high school and graduated from the University of Utah in 2020.^[7] As a young boy, Abdi's mother would take him to the slopes of Lebanon, where he would practice skiing. He later started traveling to Switzerland to a winter camp, where he trained in skiing.^[7]

Career

In 2017, he worked at Snowbird as Ski Technician and then went to Alta Ski Area on the same designation in November 2019. In 2022, Abdi completed his historic participation in the giant slalom competition at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, finishing 44th out of 91 competitors.^[8][9]

As of 2022, Abdi is an athlete for the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the Saudi Olympic Training Center.^[10]

See also

• Saudi Arabia at the 2022 Winter Olympics
• Alpine skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics
• Alpine skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Qualification

References

1. "Fayik Abdi | NBC Olympics". www.nbcolympics.com.
2. "OCA » Saudi Arabia 'very proud' of hero athlete Fayik Abdi". ocasia.org.
3. Yosri, Ahmed; Creidi, Imad (February 3, 2022). "Alpine skiing-Saudi skier set to make history at Beijing Games". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.
4. "How did Saudi Arabia make it to the Winter Olympics? | DW | 14.02.2022". DW.COM.
5. Staff Writer; Gazette, Saudi. "Saudi Arabia qualifies for Beijing Winter Olympics in another first". www.zawya.com.
6. "Abdi strikes first Olympic blow for Saudi Arabia in ski quest". The Vibes. February 13, 2022.
7. Nihal, Mariam (February 3, 2022). "Beijing Winter Olympics: Saudi skier Fayik Abdi swaps sand for snow". The National.
8. "Saudi Alpine skier Fayik Abdi completes historic participation at Winter Olympics". Arab News. February 13, 2022.
9. "Two Saudi skiers make history by qualifying for Winter Olympics". Arab News. January 17, 2022.
10. "Saudi skier Fayik Abdi: I can do something really special at 2026 Winter Olympics". Arab News. February 16, 2022.