Cross-country skiing: who are the Lebanese cross-country skiers?
Just after 3.30pm, he set off with number 1 on the cross-country skiing track of the Nordic World Ski Championships, which began this Wednesday in Trondheim (Norway). Elie Tawk is a Lebanese cross-country skier from Bcharré, a village in the north of the country.
The aim was for him, like his compatriots Samer – his cousin – and Marcelino Tawk, and all the other competitors with too many FIS points, whether from Colombia, Iceland or Northern Macedonia, to qualify for the rest of the programme. The skier finished 70th. Not good enough.
At just twenty-two years of age, Elie Tawk already has an impressive CV. This is the lot of representatives of very small nations. For example, he has already worn Lebanon’s colours at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where he came 87ᵉ in the sprint and 92ᵉ in the 15km classic. Previously, he had taken part in the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games, where the cross-country skiing events were contested in Le Brassus.
Two years ago, at the Planica Worlds, he got your ticket. He finished 126ᵉ in the 15km race. Results that countries in the Middle East do not usually achieve.
Before him, the Land of the Cedars sent several cross-country skiers to the Winter Olympics and the world championships.
Led by coach Huguette Fakhry, Samer Tawk and Marcelino Tawk recently travelled to Harbin, China, for the Asian Winter Games. Like them, 17-year-old Karen Succar and Syrelle Lozom are also carrying the hopes of the Lebanese Olympic Committee.
These athletes often train abroad because of the lack of suitable local infrastructure. Elie Tawk didn’t choose Scandinavia, or any other European nation. He opted for Oceania. After taking part in the Beijing Games, he moved to Australia to continue his studies and his professional career in the construction and property sector.
Without a sponsor, he has to finance his season himself. “Very few athletes make such sacrifices. The majority of Lebanese athletes who took part in the 2022 Olympics are thinking of giving up their sporting careers,” he recently told our Ici Beyrouth colleagues.
This has not stopped it from dominating the Lebanese national championships since 2020, winning several titles.
Next year, the young man hopes to take part in the Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy. All the more reason to write more beautiful pages in the history of Lebanese cross-country skiing.
