TEHRAN - Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Hamid Sajadi praised Atefeh Ahmadi as the Iran’s youngest ever woman skier in Winter Olympics and also said they pay special attention to women in the country.

Ahmadi will represent Iran in the Alpine skiing in Beijing. Sajadi lauded the woman, saying the sports officials are well aware of the potential of the Iranian female athletes.  

“Atefeh Ahmadi carried Iran’s flag in the opening ceremony. Ahmadi had dream of bearing Iran’s flag when she was 17 and her dream came true in the 2022 Winter Olympics,” Sajadi said in an interview with Beijing Daily.

“I am very happy since Atefeh could bear our country’s flag in Beijing as a young woman athlete. We are proud of her and I think she has a bright future ahead. I also hope the other two male skiers can get good results in the Games,” he added.

“We have Deputy Minister of women's development in our country’s sports. Every Iranian federation has a women vice president. This is included in the Statutes of the federations,” he added.

“In Iran, we have 52 sports federations and more than 100 associations and a woman vice president works in each federation.

“In Iran’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) we also have a woman deputy because we believe in potential of our country’s women,” the former athlete added.

“We will meet Director of China's General Administration of Sport Gou Zhongwen tomorrow and I hope we could strengthen our cooperation in the sports,” Sajadi concluded.