Dinigeer Yilamujiang

Dilnigar Ilhamjan (Uyghur: دىلنىگار ئىلھامجان), also known as Dinigeer Yilamujiang (Chinese: 迪妮格尔·衣拉木江), is a Chinese cross-country skier of Uyghur ethnicity, born in Altay, Xinjiang.[2] She is the first Chinese cross-country skier to win a medal in an ISF event.[3] She made her maiden Olympic appearance during the 2022 Winter Olympics,[4] where she was one of the two last torch bearers.

This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by her given name, Dilnigar, and not as Ilhamjan.
Dinigeer Yilamujiang
Dinigeer at the FIS Cross-Country World Cup 2020 in Dresden
Personal information
Native nameدىلنىگار ئىلھامجان (Dilnigar Ilhamjan)
Born (2001-05-03) May 3, 2001[1]
Altay City, Xinjiang, China
Sport
SportCross-country skiing
Turned pro2017

Early life

Her father, who taught her to ski, received a bronze medal in the 1993 national cross-country skiing competition.[5]

Sports career

Originally competing as a track and field athlete, she started learning to ski when she was 12.[6] She primarily pursued cross-country skiing initially as a hobby before transforming herself into an elite-level competitor. She took part in local events in 2012 and later engaged in competitive skiing events. She first started skiing competitively in 2017. Norwegian coach Kristian Bjune Sveen travelled to Xinjiang to give her training, while Dilnigar also spent 3 years training in Norway herself, alongside Bayani Jialin, a Chinese skier of Kazakh ethnicity.[7][8][9] She placed 2nd at the FIS China City Sprint Beijing 2019,[10] as well as 2nd at the Norwegian Norgescup at Konnerud.[11]

In 2019, she won a silver medal at the FIS Beijing Cross Country Skiing Points Grand Prix.[12]

2022 Winter Olympics
Main article: Concerns and controversies at the 2022 Winter Olympics

At the 2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, she was one of the two last torch bearers, lighting the Olympic cauldron alongside Zhao Jiawen.[13][14] She became the first Uyghur and the first from Altay, the likely origin of skiing, to light the cauldron.[15] Due to earlier backlash surrounding the Xinjiang internment camps and Uyghur genocide, there was some speculation about the message China was intending to send with Dinigeer's selection.[16] Her selection sparked condemnation from human rights groups accusing China of politicizing the Olympics.[17][18]

However, the International Olympic Committee welcomed and defended the decision of China to select her as one of the torchbearers of the opening ceremony and insisted that since she was one of the participants, she had the right to compete and take part in any ceremony.[19][20]

She competed in the women's 15km skiathlon event and placed 43rd.[21] After the match, she exited through a separate aisle, without passing through the mixed zone where she could be interviewed by the press.[22] She was scheduled to race in the women's 4 x 5 km relay on 12 February, but never showed up. Unnamed sources claimed that she was physically and mentally exhausted from 'having the eyes of the world on her.'[23] She participated in the women's 30km freestyle event on the last day of competition.[24]

References
  1. "迪妮格尔·衣拉木江 - Dinigeer YILAMUJIANG 越野滑雪 - 2022年北京冬奥会". Archived from the original on 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  2. "Who is Dinigeer Yilamujiang, the lighter of the Olympic cauldron?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  3. "Uyghur athlete lights Olympic Cauldron as Beijing 2022 officially opens". Inside the Games. 4 February 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  4. "Dinigeer Yilamujiang". Olympics Beijing 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  5. "Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a Uyghur who helped light the cauldron, made her Olympic skiing debut". Washington Post. 5 February 2022.
  6. Seow, Beiyi (5 February 2022). "Beijing Olympics puts young Uyghur athlete at centre of controversy". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  7. Budalen, Andreas (2022-01-27). "OL-treneren er en av få som ble igjen: – Håper Kina knuser Norge langt ned i støvlene". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  8. "Hun er uigur og har trent i Norge i tre år. Fredag tente hun OL-ilden". www.aftenposten.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). 4 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  9. "Idrettsavtalen med Kina er en skamplett for norsk idrett, skriver Andreas Selliaas". Morgenbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  10. "FIS China City Sprint Beijing 2019". www.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  11. Auklend, Erik Sergio (2019-01-11). "Fossesholm raskest av alle - inkludert Skistad". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  12. "新京报 - 好新闻，无止境". www.bjnews.com.cn. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  13. "Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony - Olympic cauldron lighting ends spectacular show".
  14. "China chooses Uyghur athlete to help deliver Olympic flame amid human rights scrutiny". The Hill. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  15. Golden, Andrew. "Who is Dinigeer Yilamujiang, the lighter of the Olympic cauldron?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  16. "What message did China send by choosing Uyghur torchbearer?". AP News. 2022-02-05. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  17. "Winter Olympics: China stirs controversy with Uighur torchbearer". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  18. "China bags Winter Games gold and a rap for 'cynical ploy' of Uyghur torchbearer". the Guardian. 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  19. "IOC defends torch bearer choice amid concerns over China's treatment of Uyghurs". 7news.com.au. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  20. "IOC says torch-bearer Dinigeer Yilamujiang's ethnicity not a factor". South China Morning Post. 2022-02-06. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  21. "women's 15km skiathlon event". Olympics Beijing 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  22. "A Uyghur Skier Became the Face of China's Winter Olympics. The Next Day, She Vanished From the Spotlight". The Wall Street Journal. 2022-02-06. Archived from the original on 2022-02-07.
  23. "Uyghur torch bearer dropped from China's relay team". SupChina. 2022-02-14.
  24. https://medias2.fis-ski.com/pdf/2022/CC/2706/2022CC2706RL.pdf
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