Fayik ABDI

Saudi Arabia

Alpine Skiing

Date of Birth: 7 Oct 1997

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Place of birth: SAN DIEGO, CA

Birth Country:

United States of America

Residence: DHAHRAN

Residence Country:

Saudi Arabia

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Alpine Skiing	Men's Giant Slalom	44

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre - Technical	Men's Giant Slalom Run 1	Finished
	Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre - Technical	Men's Giant Slalom Run 2	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Hobbies:

Scuba diving, basketball, football, wakeboarding.

Occupation:

Athlete

Education:

Bachelor of Science - University of Utah (USA).

Family:

Younger brothers, Faris and Tarik.

Languages spoken:

Arabic, English

Club name:

Saudi Ski Team (KSA)

Coach:

National: Daniel Sanz (ESP), Jeff Books (CAN), Lukas Partl

Sporting relatives:

Brother, Faris (Football): Plays football as a midfielder for Al-Qadsiah and the Saudi Arabia national team.
Brother, Tarik (Football): Plays semi-pro football as a defender, attending IMG Academy's program in the USA and then Elmira College.

Other sports:

Has previously competed in tennis, swimming, running, triathlon, football and basketball.

Debut:

2021 FIS event in Kaabdalis (Giant slalom - DNF1)

Injuries:

2015: Tore both groins and had both repaired at the same time.

National team:

2021

Start:

His mother taught him to ski when he was four years old at the Mzaar ski area near Faraya, an hour outside of Beirut (LBN) when he lived there while growing up. (Athlete, 16 Jan 2022)

Reason:

"I always loved skiing. The freedom of skiing is what excited me about it." (Athlete, 16 Jan 2022)

Ambition:

Compete in slalom, super-G and giant slalom in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina, and have a World Cup start by 2028. (Athlete, 16 Jan 2022)

Hero:

Tennis player Rafael Nadal (ESP), two-time Olympic champion, winner of 21 Grand Slam men's singles titles, the most in history. English football manager Wayne Rooney (GBR), record goalscorer for both the England national team and Manchester United, English footballer Jamie Vardy (GBR), who plays for Leicester City in the Premier League, and basketball player Kobe Bryant (USA), two-time Olympic champion and five-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion. (Athlete, 16 Jan 2022)

Ritual:

Always puts his right boot on first, and then the right ski first. Takes his skis off at the same location between the first and second competition runs. (Athlete, 16 Jan 2022)

Award:

Selected as an opening ceremony flagbearer for Saudi Arabia at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

General Interest

FIRST SAUDI OLYMPIC SKIER
He is the first skier from Saudi Arabia and its first Winter Olympian, as the Saudi Winter Sports Federation undertook a global campaign to find Saudi winter sports athletes to support its first winter team. He had been filming a commercial video for a new ski resort in Saudi Arabia when the Federation reached out to him in March 2021 to speak to him about the Olympics. (arabnews.com, 26 May 2021; Athlete, 16 Jan 2022; wsj.com, 20 Sep 2021)

UNIVERSITY
He chose the University of Utah in 2016 partially so that he would have an opportunity to pursue his passion of skiing in the mountains near the university. (Athlete LinkedIn; Athlete, 16 Jan 2022)

Milestones

First international start was in November 2021 in Sweden. His best FIS race performance is a 15th in giant slalom in Kolasin in December 2021.

His best FIS points performance of 109.76 came in the Timor-Leste national championships in December 2021 where he finished 18th at the race in Kolasin (MNE).

Finished ninth in giant slalom at the Jamaican national championships held in Liechtenstein in December 2021.

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event

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