A famed extreme skier from the United States who was killed after falling from one of the world’s tallest mountains was on Sunday given a traditional funeral at a Sherpa cremation ground.
Buddhist monks officiated at a ceremony attended by family, friends and government officials.
Hilaree Nelson, 49, fell from the 26,775ft summit of the world’s eighth-highest mountain, Mount Manaslu, last week while skiing down with her partner, Jim Morrison.
Nelson’s body was taken to the Sherpa cremation grounds in Kathmandu from a hospital morgue on the back of an open truck, which was decorated a poster of her and decked with garlands of flowers.
Family, friends, mountaineers and government officials gathered at the funeral ground, offering flowers and scarfs that were placed on her remains, which were then rested on a stack of wood. Buddhists monks lit the pyre as they played musical instruments and chanted prayers while mourners lit incense.
Friends and family members mourn Hilaree Nelson in Kathmandu on Sunday. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty
Nelson’s family members had flown to Kathmandu for the funeral.
She disappeared on 26 September and rescuers searching by helicopter located her body two days later, which was flown to Kathmandu. Bad weather had hampered the initial search.
Climbers on Mount Manaslu have been struggling with bad weather and repeated avalanches. On the day Nelson fell, an avalanche at a lower elevation on the same mountain killed a Nepalese man and injured several other climbers.
Hilaree Nelson. Photograph: Nick Kalisz/Facebook
Hundreds of climbers and their local guides have attempted to reach the mountain’s summit during Nepal’s autumn climbing season.
Nelson, from Telluride, Colorado, and Morrison, from Tahoe, California, are extreme skiers who reached the summit of Mount Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest mountain, in 2018.
Nepal’s government has issued permits to 504 climbers during this year’s autumn climbing season. Most are climbing Mount Manaslu.
A Finnish skier competing in a men’s cross-country skiing race at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing suffered damage to his equipment on Saturday, but just not what you might expect, according to a report.
Remi Lindholm, 24, of Finland, spent over an hour traversing the shortened men’s 50km mass start free race in brutal temperatures and howling winds, causing his penis to become frozen, Reuters reported.
“You can guess which body part was a little bit frozen when I finished … it was one of the worst competitions I’ve been in,” Lindholm told Finnish media. “It was just about battling through.”
US FIGURE SKATER VINCENT ZHOU EXPRESSES FRUSTRATION AFTER BEING UNABLE TO ATTEND CLOSING CEREMONY
Remi Lindholm of Team Finland competes during the Men’s Cross-Country Skiing 50km Mass Start Free on Day 15 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at The National Cross-Country Skiing Centre on February 19, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. The event distance has been shortened to 30k due to weather conditions. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
The 50km race was first delayed by an hour and then shortened to 30km to protect the competitors, who wore thin suits that offered little protection from the wind and cold weather.
Organizers had been worried about frostbite, according to the news organization.
After the race, Lindholm said he needed a heat pack to thaw out his downstairs appendage.
“When the body parts started to warm up after the finish, the pain was unbearable,” he added.
WINTER OLYMPICS 2022: FINLAND BEATS RUSSIANS FOR ITS 1ST HOCKEY GOLD MEDAL
Despite the injury, Lindholm still managed to place 28 in the 60-skier event.
He finished with a time of just under an hour and 16 minutes — about four minutes slower than Alexander Bolshunov of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), who won gold in the event.
Lindholm noted it was the second time his penis became frozen during a cross-country skiing race.
Remi Lindholm of Finland in action competes during the men´s 15km classic cross-country skiing during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at The National Cross-Country Skiing Centre on February 11, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Tom Weller/VOIGT/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
A similar incident happened in Ruka, Finland, last year, he said, according to Reuters.
Norwegian skier Jarl Magnus Riiber had high hopes coming to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, but a positive COVID test and one wrong turn have dimmed that hope.
Riiber, a three-time world champion, was leading by nearly a minute in the Nordic combined large hill/10km event on Tuesday when he took a wrong turn on the course, heading toward the finish line instead of looping around for the final two laps.
LIVE UPDATES: BEIJING OLYMPICS
“I was actually quite focused on the technique and the pace, and I was staring down and suddenly when I was raising the head, I see the finish line and then I thought, okay — this is not my Olympics,” he told reporters, via Reuters.
Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber competes in the Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km, Ski Jumping Competition event, on Feb. 15, 2022 at the Zhangjiakou National Ski Jumping Centre, during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
But Riiber’s mistake was more of a physical issue than a mental lapse. He tested positive upon his arrival in Beijing and was only cleared on Monday
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
“It was more of a physical problem,” he said. “When I’m in normal shape, the mental part is normally there. I was not able to ski normal. I was feeling quite bad.
Jarl Magnus Riiber of Team Norway celebrates competes during Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km, Ski Jumping Competition Round on day 11 of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at The National Cross-Country Skiing Centre on February 15, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
“I had two days with very hard symptoms with corona and I was starting to train a little bit, building it a little bit up to perform on this day,” he continued. “But I have been locked inside for two weeks, not breathing fresh air and not being friends with the snow and the cold weather here. So yeah, then the body’s not working. I’m normally one of the better skiers as well, and today I was just bad.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway competes during the Individual Gundersen HS109/7.5km at the FIS World Cup Nordic Combined Men Seefeld at on January 28, 2022 in Seefeld, Austria. (Photo by Franz Kirchmayr/SEPA.Media /Getty Images)
Riiber jumped 142 meters (466 feet) and had 139.8 points in the first phase of the competition. The impressive jump gave him a 44-second lead in the cross-country race, but he finished eighth after his unfortunate run in the cross-country portion.
A former DJ who has graced the stage at the Burning Man festival, the 38-year-old only discovered his love for the sport at 32, after a chance encounter with friends.
That was in 2015 when Alexander was invited to DJ in Canada, and found himself at the top of a mountain with a group of friends.
“I never skied before at that time,” Alexander told CNN. “They flew us up in the helicopters at the top of the mountain to meet the skiers for lunch. And growing up in England and spending most of my DJ career in warmer climates.
“I’d never experienced anything like this before, I was just taken aback by the surroundings.
“And then the icing on the cake was to watch my friends pop into skis at the end of lunch and just disappear. And I thought that was fantastic.
A few months later, in February of 2016, Alexander had his first lesson in Whistler and “it’s just been kind of a steady progression since,” he says modestly.
Initially, Alexander wanted to get good enough at skiing to keep up with his friends.
“As I got good enough to kind of keep up with them socially, being the only black representative in the group but on top of that being of Jamaican heritage, people kept throwing sideways jokes about ‘Cool Runnings,'” added Alexander, referring to the 1993 hit film about the unlikely story of the Jamaican four-man bobsleigh team’s bid to get to the 1988 Olympics in Calgary,
Alexander went to the PyeongChang Games in 2018 as a spectator, and started to wonder if he could compete at that level.
“One of the things I noticed, other than thoroughly enjoying the spirit of the Olympics, was that there were only three Jamaican athletes in attendance.
“It took me aback knowing how strong Jamaica is in the Summer Games, knowing how popular that movie ‘Cool Runnings’ is.
“I kind of had this idea in the back of my head: let’s see if this is possible. I thought the most likely outcome was death or at least a serious injury,” he told CNN.
‘Absolutely fearless’
So Alexander booked a month-long trip back to Canada to ski, where he met former Europa Cup level ski racer, American Gordon Gray.
“When we sat down for lunch, he said, “Okay, I’ll be brutally honest. Your technique — absolutely atrocious — the worst I’ve ever seen.”
But to Alexander’s surprise the Jamaican could keep up with the American, who had been skiing for 40 years.
Despite critiquing Alexander’s technique the American skier told the Jamaican that he was “absolutely fearless.” According to Alexander, Gray added: ‘If you’re afraid you’re never gonna get any work done, even with all the technique in the world. But if you’re fearless, then we can teach you technique and I think there’s a chance.”
In just 22 months, Alexander shaved down his FIS race points from over 600 to under the required 160 point minimum.
By January, he had secured the last of the 160 International Ski Federation (FIS) points needed to qualify for the games by finishing seventh in the giant slalom at the Cape Verde National Ski Championships in Liechtenstein.
Fast forward to 2022 and Alexander will on Sunday represent Jamaica in the Winter Games.
“Qualification — that was the finish line that I was running towards everything else now above, above and beyond. This is just the icing on the cake. I’m competing with people that have been skiing since the age of two ski racing since the age of four.
But getting to Beijing 2022 wasn’t easy.
“I’ve cut myself a gazillion times on my skis, I’ve cracked ribs. I’ve had so many injuries. There’s been lots of sweat; it’s been hard, hard work,” he said.
“Especially during the first (Covid-19 enforced) lockdown when the chairlifts stopped working and I spent my time climbing up mountains so I could continue skiing.
“I basically did 100 days of back-country skiing and climbed the equivalent of 10 Mount Everests with skis on my back and ski boots on my feet,” he added.
Alexander counts Dudley ‘Tal’ Stokes — one of the members of Jamaica’s first Olympic bobsled team — as one of his mentors, and wants to offer his own guidance to Jamaica’s newer Olympic hopefuls.
“I am from a working class background — my parents were both drivers, my father was a bus driver for most of his career, and no one in my immediate family skied,” said Alexander, who wants his story to be a “beacon of light” and show “it is still possible to get there.”
“I think the important point is it’s going to be hard at the start, but you just have to persevere.”
The Chinese government chose Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a Uyghur skier to carry the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony. It was, indeed, an in-your-face moment to those opposed to China’s genocide of the Uyghurs. She carried the torch hand in hand with Zhao Jiawen, a Chinese athlete in the Nordic combined. The message was that everything is fine, there is no exclusion of Uyghurs from Chinese society. Typically, a more accomplished or better-known athlete would have been chosen to carry the torch.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin smiled and watched from the VIP booth at the Beijing National Stadium. I watched some of the opening ceremonies, tuning in just before the U.S. delegation entered. It is hard to watch the athletic competitions and not feel some disgust that the IOC and international corporations are so corrupt that something like the genocide of a minority of citizens in a country, like China, is not taken into consideration when the host country is selected. Chinese film director Zhang Yimou was the opening ceremony maestro and he had promised it would be “a bold and unprecedented way of lighting the Olympic flame.” Mission accomplished.
The 2022 Beijing Olympics have been dubbed the Genocide Olympics. China’s intention is to whitewash any human rights criticisms. Frankly, the opening ceremonies on Friday were rather depressing. While the Chinese were making a big deal about the snowflake designs, it was unavoidable to notice that there was little electricity coming from those in attendance because there wasn’t the usual packed stadium. It was sad to watch the families of American athletes reacting to their kids and grandkids marching into the stadium in Beijing from the confines of their living rooms instead of being in the stadium themselves, cheering them on. That has to take a toll on the athletes and their families. Imagine supporting your child for years as he or she trains to compete in the Olympics and the Chinese government denies you a seat in the stadium as the Games begin.
Dinigeer Yilamujiang gave the slip to the global press on Saturday. The 20-year-old cross-country skier from Xinjiang, the center of the genocide, delivered what is described as a lackluster finish during her Olympic debut. She was barely written about by the Chinese press. This was the first time she had competed as an Olympic athlete. In the course of 18 hours, Ms. Yilamujiang went from her debut as a rising star to finishing 42 out of 65 competitors in her first event.
It didn’t go particularly well. By the first checkpoint of Saturday’s race, Ms. Yilamujiang had fallen behind more than half of the field of 65 competitors, eventually finishing 42 places behind the eventual gold medalist, Norway’s Therese Johaug.
Afterward, Ms. Yilamujiang and the three other Chinese athletes competing in the event slipped away, leaving more than a dozen Chinese and foreign journalists waiting for more than an hour in frigid temperatures.
Did she “escape” from the global press to avoid being asked awkward questions about the genocide and human rights violations by the Chinese? Is she concerned for her personal safety or that of her family? She is one of six athletes from her region competing in the Winter Games, and the only one of Uyghur heritage. All of the Chinese athletes ditched the press which seems unusual since her presence was hailed as a show of unity. It seems like from a public relations angle, the Chinese athletes could have put on a united front for the press, thus minimalizing the allegations against the brutal dictatorship that is killing Uyghers.
Ms. Yilamujiang’s escape, if that’s what it was, appeared to be in contravention of International Olympic Committee rules that require all athletes to pass through a “mixed zone” where they can—but aren’t obliged to—answer journalists’ questions.
The IOC confirmed in an emailed response to questions that mixed-zone rules remain in place despite the pandemic, but it declined to comment on Ms. Yilamujiang’s no-show. Ms. Yilamujiang couldn’t be reached for comment through China’s National Olympic Committee, which didn’t reply to requests for comment.
That’s the problem. The Chinese government is secretive, especially in its brutality against its own people. China’s state-run media published videos on social media of Ms. Yilamujiang’s family who were “beaming with pride.”
“China has done everything it can for me, and what is left for me to do now is to train hard and bring glory to the country,” Ms. Yilamujiang was quoted as saying in an article published by the Communist Party-run Xinjiang Daily. The article also highlighted her personal story, as a teenage talent groomed by her father—himself a decorated skier and national cross-country ski coach.
In a separate video posted by the newspaper, Ms. Yilamujiang’s mother praised Beijing: “Thanks to the country for giving my daughter such an important mission.”
Yilamujiang has been silent on her ethnic identity, likely for obvious reasons. Adake Ahenaer, a speedskater from Xinjiang, also making her Olympic debut, has not been silent. She is a member of a different ethnic minority,
“As an ethnic minority fighting in our home court, to represent my country and represent my ethnic group, gave me honor,” Ms. Adake told reporters after competing in the women’s 3,000-meter speedskating event on Saturday, where she came in 17th. “This honor is indescribable.”
The 22-year-old Ms. Adake, a member of China’s Kazakh minority, another of the country’s 56 officially recognized indigenous groups, said she got emotional seeing her close friend Ms. Yilamujiang appear on television as one of the surprise final torchbearers.
“She is representative of us young athletes in her spirit,” she said. Asked what she thought of Western media reports about Xinjiang, Ms. Adake sighed audibly.
Though not a Uyghur, the Kazakh minority has also been victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and torture by the Chinese government.
Let’s hope both young women make it home safely after the Games finish.
An Uyghur athlete who became the face of China’s Winter Games after lighting the Olympic flame at the Opening Ceremony has ‘disappeared’ from the spotlight.
Dinigeer Yilamujiang, 20, from the Altay Prefecture in Northern Xinjiang, finished 43rd in her cross-country skiathon Olympic debut on Saturday and has since vanished from the limelight.
She quietly slipped away after the event alongside three other Chinese athletes through a ‘mixed zone’, which allows athletes to pass through without having to answer questions from the media.
Ms Yilamujiang, who is the only athlete of Uyghur heritage, became the main focus of the Olympics following her controversial appearance at the Opening Ceremony – which rights groups have since criticised for ‘giving a political message’.
Following her prominent appearance on television, state media ran videos of Ms Yilamujiang’s family cheering and clapping as they watched the ceremony onscreen – which many claimed was staged.
Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, the man behind the mind-blowing Beijing 2008 opening ceremony, which also took place in the Birds Nest stadium, masterminded the event – promising it would be ‘a bold and unprecedented way to light the Olympic flame.’
Dinigeer Yilamujiang (left), a Uyghur cross-country skier from the north west region of Xinjiang, was one of the Chinese athletes to light the flame and has since vanished from the spotlight. Pictured right: Zhao Jiawen, 21, who is a Chinese athlete also in the Nordic combine
Ms Yilamujiang (pictured) finished 43rd in her cross-country skiathon Olympic debut on Saturday and has since vanished from the limelight of the Winter Games
Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, the man behind the mind-blowing Beijing 2008 opening ceremony, which also took place in the Birds Nest stadium, masterminded the event – promising it would be ‘a bold and unprecedented way to light the Olympic flame.’
Beijing Olympics organisers declined to comment on Ms Yilamujiang’s disappearance at a press conference on Saturday – but the IOC confirmed mixed-zone rules remain in place despite the pandemic, according to the WSJ.
In an article published by the Communist Party-run Xinjiang Daily, Ms Yilamujiang said: ‘China has done everything possible for me, and what is left for me to do now is to train hard and bring glory to the country.’
During another video posted by the newspaper, Ms Yilamujiang’s mother added: ‘Thanks to the country for giving my daughter such an important mission.’
In response to claims that Ms Yilamujiang’s inclusion was a political stance, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said she had ‘every right’ to participate.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: ‘Obviously the opening ceremony is something that the organising committee put together and there’s creative input. We are involved to a certain extent.’
‘This is an athlete who is competing here, she is competing this morning. She has every right, wherever she comes from, whatever her background, to compete… and to take part in any ceremony.’
In an article published by the Communist Party-run Xinjiang Daily, Ms Yilamujiang (pictured left) said: ‘China has done everything possible for me, and what is left for me to do now is to train hard and bring glory to the country.’
Ma Haiyun, an expert on Xinjiang and an associate professor at Frostburg State University in Maryland, said Ms Yilamujian’s appearance was ‘political’.
He said: ‘By selecting a Uyghur athlete to light the torch, China is trying to address criticism by the West about genocide or persecution of the Uyghurs, and about sinicisation of ethnic minorities.
‘But I don’t think this can have much effect on the West, which tends to think most of what China puts up is a show anyway’.
The Communist Chinese regime chose an Uyghur athlete to light the Olympic torch alongside Zhao Jiawen, 21, who is a Chinese athlete also in the Nordic combine.
There were just a handful of foreign dignitaries at the ceremony as most Western leaders boycotted over China’s human rights record and persecutions of Uighur Muslims in eastern Xinjiang province.
Activists and U.N. rights experts say at least one million Muslims are being detained in camps in the remote western region of Xinjiang, with activists and some Western politicians accusing China of using torture, forced labour and sterilisations.
China denies any human rights abuses in Xinjiang and says its camps provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.
Another moment of tension came as Taiwan’s athletes entered the stadium as ‘Chinese Taipei’. Taiwan views itself as a self-governing nation, but Beijing views it as a breakaway province and has threatening to ‘reunify’ it by force. The team was set to boycott the games over their team name, but were told by organisers they had to attend.
The world leaders were joined in the stands by just a handful of ‘select’ guests as the event takes place inside a Covid-secure bubble to comply with China’s strict zero Covid policy.
Meanwhile Xi Jinping received a standing ovation as he arrived to watch some 3,000 performers take part in the opening ceremony, which also featured goose-stepping People’s Liberation Army soldiers hoisting the country’s flag as the national anthem played.
President Xi Jinping received a minute-long standing ovation as he arrived in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium to watch the Opening Ceremony on Friday
Xi watched as Taiwan’s athletes were forced to enter the stadium under the banner of ‘Chinese Taipei’. Taiwan views itself as a separate country, while China views it as a province and is threatening to ‘reunify’ it by force. Taiwan was going to boycott the games over the name, but was forced by the IOC to attend
China takes part in the parade of athletes during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games
Tickets for the opening ceremony as well as other Games events were not sold publicly with only those specially invited able to attend due to fears of the spread of Covid, leading to concerns that an absence of euphoric crowds may impact the atmosphere inside stadiums. No international fans are allowed at the Games.
But also missing are government officials from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, United States and India who are initiating a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics over China’s human rights record, particularly over its treatment of the Uighurs.
They are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority group in the Xinjiang autonomous region of China, which the UN has claimed have been subject of severe human rights violations at the hands of the state.
China has denied the allegations and warned nations taking part in the boycott that they will ‘pay a price’ for their ‘mistake.’ But athletes from those countries will be participating in the Games.
High stakes international politics also featured behind the scenes of today’s opening ceremony which was attended by guest of honour, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
He met his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping ahead of the event taking place to discuss the international crisis unfolding in Ukraine, which according to reports from both countries, has ‘brought them together.’
Putin is also using his visit to the Winter Games to meet the leaders of 20 other nations in what is being viewed as a diplomatic push to win them over as tensions in Ukraine continue to simmer.
had given the slip to an eager global press, her lackluster finish in her Olympic debut barely mentioned in the Chinese media.
The catapulting of Ms. Yilamujiang into the global spotlight, followed by a low-key retreat, marked a remarkable 24-hour whirlwind for the hitherto-unknown athlete.
On Friday night, as Chinese leader
Xi Jinping
and Russian President
Vladimir Putin
watched from the VIP booth at the Beijing National Stadium, Ms. Yilamujiang was the surprising—and immediately contentious—choice for what acclaimed Chinese film director and opening ceremony maestro Zhang Yimou had promised would be “a bold and unprecedented way of lighting the Olympic flame.”
In the end, it was less about how Ms. Yilamujiang carried the flame—hand in hand with Zhao Jiawen, a Chinese athlete in the Nordic combined—as it was about her identity.
Torch bearers Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Zhao Jiawen carried the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony.
Photo:
Cao Can/Zuma Press
Ms. Yilamujiang is a Uyghur, a member of the Turkic minority group native to China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang that has become the main focus of allegations in the U.S. and the West about Chinese human rights violations.
The decision to choose Ms. Yilamujiang, rather than a more accomplished or widely known athlete, and to pair her with a member of China’s Han majority, was interpreted as Mr. Xi’s act of defiance against the global pressure campaign and decried as “offensive” by overseas Uyghur human rights groups.
Ms. Yilamujiang’s selection for such a prestigious task was notable for another reason: She was set to make her Olympic sporting debut 18 hours after her star turn.
It didn’t go particularly well. By the first checkpoint of Saturday’s race, Ms. Yilamujiang had fallen behind more than half of the field of 65 competitors, eventually finishing 42 places behind the eventual gold medalist, Norway’s
Therese Johaug.
Afterward, Ms. Yilamujiang and the three other Chinese athletes competing in the event slipped away, leaving more than a dozen Chinese and foreign journalists waiting for more than an hour in frigid temperatures.
Dinigeer Yilamujiang competed in the cross-country skiathon, finishing 43rd.
Photo:
Aaron Favila/Associated Press
Ms. Yilamujiang’s escape, if that’s what it was, appeared to be in contravention of International Olympic Committee rules that require all athletes to pass through a “mixed zone” where they can—but aren’t obliged to—answer journalists’ questions.
The IOC confirmed in an emailed response to questions that mixed-zone rules remain in place despite the pandemic, but it declined to comment on Ms. Yilamujiang’s no-show. Ms. Yilamujiang couldn’t be reached for comment through China’s National Olympic Committee, which didn’t reply to requests for comment.
The 20-year-old from Xinjiang’s northern Altay prefecture is one of six athletes from the Chinese region competing in the Winter Games, and the only one of Uyghur heritage.
Newsletter Sign-up
Sports
Get daily news and analysis on the Beijing Olympics and the Super Bowl.
With the opening ceremony, Ms. Yilamujiang became an overnight celebrity in China, touted as a symbol of national unity.
“That moment will encourage me every day for the rest of my life,” Ms. Yilamujiang told China’s official news agency Xinhua on Sunday, it reported. “I was so excited when I found out we were going to place the torch. It’s a huge honor for me!”
Xinhua said she and her partner represented Chinese athletes born in the 2000s and symbolized an inheritance of sporting traditions and the Olympic spirit across generations. It made no mention of her ethnicity.
State-run media had earlier published videos on social media of Ms. Yilamujiang’s family back home in Xinjiang, beaming with pride.
“China has done everything it can for me, and what is left for me to do now is to train hard and bring glory to the country,” Ms. Yilamujiang was quoted as saying in an article published by the Communist Party-run Xinjiang Daily. The article also highlighted her personal story, as a teenage talent groomed by her father—himself a decorated skier and national cross-country ski coach.
In a separate video posted by the newspaper, Ms. Yilamujiang’s mother praised Beijing: “Thanks to the country for giving my daughter such an important mission.”
To human rights activists overseas, the choice of Ms. Yilamujiang for the opening ceremony was a pointed rebuttal by Mr. Xi.
The Chinese government has targeted the Xinjiang region’s mostly Muslim ethnic minorities with mass-detention internment camps and omnipresent surveillance as part of a yearslong campaign of forcible assimilation.
China has described its actions as necessary measures to fight terrorism and protect national security.
The Beijing Olympics are the first Winter Games to rely entirely on artificial snow. WSJ examines the logistics of snowmaking and what it may mean for future host cities. Photo: Lisi Niesner/Reuters
Concerns over China’s human rights record, and especially its ethnic-assimilation efforts in Xinjiang, have clouded the run-up to the Games, and overshadowed other aspects of the opening ceremony.
In a news briefing on Saturday, Beijing Olympic organizers declined questions about Ms. Yilamujiang’s selection, preferring to discuss instead the opening ceremony’s snowflake motif.
They told the Journal in separate emailed comments that there were stringent selection criteria for torchbearers, each of whom boasted outstanding achievements. The IOC declined to answer specific questions on her selection.
Though Ms. Yilamujiang wasn’t available to answer journalists’ questions after Saturday’s race, China’s state-run broadcaster did have an exclusive interview, in which she expressed incredulity at having been entrusted with the role of torchbearer.
“Since the country gave me such an important mission, I had to fulfill it,” Ms. Yilamujiang said in the interview, which was broadcast Sunday but which appeared to have been taped prior to her race.
Ms. Yilamujiang’s silence on her ethnic identity was a contrast with fellow athlete Adake Ahenaer, a speedskater from Xinjiang who was also making her Olympic debut.
“As an ethnic minority fighting in our home court, to represent my country and represent my ethnic group, gave me honor,” Ms. Adake told reporters after competing in the women’s 3,000-meter speedskating event on Saturday, where she came in 17th. “This honor is indescribable.”
The 22-year-old Ms. Adake, a member of China’s Kazakh minority, another of the country’s 56 officially recognized indigenous groups, said she got emotional seeing her close friend Ms. Yilamujiang appear on television as one of the surprise final torchbearers.
“She is representative of us young athletes in her spirit,” she said. Asked what she thought of Western media reports about Xinjiang, Ms. Adake sighed audibly.
—Laine Higgins contributed to this article.
What to Know About the Beijing Winter Olympics
Write to Liza Lin at Liza.Lin@wsj.com and Elaine Yu at elaine.yu@wsj.com
The body of a 43-year-old avid skier who got caught up in a sweeping snow storm over Christmas has been found in an unlikely spot. Roy Angelotta disappeared around 10 p.m. Christmas Eve while skiing at the Northstar California Resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains and was thought to have gone off-piste due to low visibility and bad weather. Hi body was found Saturday about three miles from the resort in a residential area. Law enforcement officials say he was likely trying to find a safe haven from the storm when he collapsed. “It is possible Angelotta was attempting to find the neighborhood near Truckee when he succumbed to the elements,” the sheriff’s office said, according to NBC News. “There was no indication of any suspicious or unusual activity.” An autopsy is scheduled to determine his exact cause of death.
First responders said a skier at Nashoba Valley Ski Area was flown to a Boston area hospital Sunday afternoon after being extricated from under a building.The Westford Fire Department said the incident happened just after 1 p.m. According to the ski resort, the victim, an 18-year-old male, collided with a building off-trail near the bottom of the Nashoba Slope. The trail is rated with a blue square, which means more difficult terrain. It is located on the edge of the resort. The department said the skiing accident left the 18-year-old trapped under a building. First responders helped to extricate the teenager from under the building.The teenager was flown to the hospital with what the fire department said were severe injuries. He was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident.The incident was under investigation by Westford police.
WESTFORD, Mass. —
First responders said a skier at Nashoba Valley Ski Area was flown to a Boston area hospital Sunday afternoon after being extricated from under a building.
The Westford Fire Department said the incident happened just after 1 p.m.
According to the ski resort, the victim, an 18-year-old male, collided with a building off-trail near the bottom of the Nashoba Slope.
The trail is rated with a blue square, which means more difficult terrain. It is located on the edge of the resort.
The department said the skiing accident left the 18-year-old trapped under a building. First responders helped to extricate the teenager from under the building.
The teenager was flown to the hospital with what the fire department said were severe injuries.
He was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident.
The incident was under investigation by Westford police.
The victim was part of a group ascending a mountain during a backcountry ski outing near Haines, Alaska, on Saturday, according to the US Coast Guard. The man suffered injuries to his head and hands when he was attacked.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the victim inadvertently awoke the brown bear in a den, a mother that was likely protecting her cub.
“The skier who was attacked at some point realized he should play dead, which is probably a good idea in this type of circumstance,” state wildlife biologist Carl Koch told CNN.
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Sitka located the man and two other skiers about 10 miles northwest of Haines at an elevation of 1,600 feet, according to the Coast Guard.
A Coast Guard rescue swimmer was lowered to evaluate the man’s condition and then used a litter to hoist the man to the helicopter. He was flown to Juneau for treatment.
The man was alert at the time of the rescue, but the Coast Guard did not have any further information about his condition. The other two skiers were able to give him first aid and contact the Coast Guard.
“Their satellite communication device provided the precise GPS coordinates and elevation of their location,” said co-pilot Lt. Cmdr. Will Sirokman. “Equally important, they had brightly colored fabric to signal the helicopter as we approached. This was absolutely crucial to us finding them in a timely manner.”
The other two skiers did not need assistance and continued down the mountain on their own, according to the Coast Guard.
