Beijing Winter Games to be organized perfectly - Polish snowboarder Kwiatkowski

WARSAW - "Despite the pandemic, Beijing Winter Games will be perfectly organized and will be a great sporting celebration," one of the most talented Polish snowboarders Oskar Kwiatkowski told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

"The Olympic atmosphere (in China) is something special. I'm convinced that China as the organizer will meet the expectations because this country is a power in the world," Kwiatkowski claimed.

For Kwiatkowski, gold medalist at 2019 Winter Universiade, the Beijing Games will be his second Winter Olympics, as he went to PyeongChang three years ago. "Today I'm a different athlete, I have experience and I approach the competition in Beijing with calmness."

"I always aim as high as possible, so I dream of Olympic gold. I'm not afraid of anyone. The athlete's greatest opponent is himself or herself, but mentally I am ready for the games," the 25-year-old said, "Recently I heard from a friend of our team that I perform very well and I can even be fifth in Beijing. I thanked him for the compliment, but I want to achieve an even better result."

"My dreams of just appearing at the Olympics have already come true. Now I want to show how I developed and how hard I have worked for four years. If I can achieve a good result in Beijing, all this effort will be rewarded. The whole world will be watching us, it makes me happy," said the Polish snowboarder.

In order to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading and for the safety of all participants, China has announced that athletes competing in Beijing need to be fully vaccinated as well as other coronavirus prevention measures.

"I support the decision that Olympians must be vaccinated against COVID-19. The pandemic is a global problem and safety is a priority. Thanks to the need for vaccinations, we will feel more comfortable. We all know by now that vaccines really work. The past has taught us that this is the only way to beat the pandemic," Kwiatkowski said.

Also, for pandemic prevention, fans outside of China won't be allowed to buy tickets for the Winter Games.

"I don't think this is a problem. The Polish fans would watch the Winter Games on TV anyway. I don't think that if it were not for the restrictions, many compatriots would go to Beijing, probably mainly the families of athletes. I think we will feel the atmosphere of a great event anyway because we will meet the best athletes from other countries," the Polish snowboarder explained.