Brazil's Nicole Silveira, who will compete in the skeleton during the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, takes a selfie at the track for competitions. Photo: Courtesy of Silveira

 
As one of the tropical countries to the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, Brazil sent a delegation of 11 athletes scattered throughout disciplines such as alpine skiing, skeleton and bobsled. One of the Brazilian athletes said that for countries like Brazil and China, which are in the stage of ice sports development, athletes being able to compete at the Winter Olympics is already a huge accomplishment, and further engagement with the public will help grow people's enthusiasm for the ice sports. 

Brazil's Nicole Silveira, who will compete in the skeleton during the Beijing 2022 Games, which is also her first Winter Olympics, told the Global Times via a phone interview that over the past four years, she has worked very hard and been dedicated her whole life for the skeleton. "Especially in the last season, I've come a long way from where I was, and I've grown a lot as an athlete and have learned a lot, developed a lot," she said, noting that being able to get here is already a huge accomplishment. 

Silveira came to the test event last October, and she said she really enjoyed the track and felt good about the event. 

Brazil is one of about 80 warm-weather countries to compete in the Winter Olympics 2022, as some online sites calculated, and in the eyes of the Brazilian athlete, the South American country also shares some similarities in developing ice sports with China. "We also are very small like for ice sports… I think it's definitely growing," Silveira said, noting that there are new facilities built in Brazil with an ice rink and curling arena, as the country is also trying to promote it. 

Before the Winter Olympics 2022 begins, Matheus Figueiredo, President of the Brazilian Ice Sports Federation expressed his wish to take the Beijing Winter Olympics as an opportunity to deepen cooperation with China, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

Nicole Silveira holds Winter Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen pillow in her room at the Olympic Village. Photo: Courtesy of Silveira

 
Besides Brazil, other tropical country teams and athletes to join the Games include Jamaica's iconic bobsled team, depicted previously in the Disney movie "Cool Runnings," and Alpine skier Shannon-Ogbani Abeda, who was born in Canada after his parents fled the war in their home country. He will represent Eritrea at the Games, as sports and entertainment site stacker.com reported on Tuesday. 

And Jamaica, Haiti, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia are among other warm-weather countries to join the Games. Athletes from tropical countries need to sacrifice much more as it's not only about adapting to a frigid environment but also spending much time abroad for training. 

"I think the amount of social media and interviews and TV shows that I've been on has really helped grow the knowledge of what skeleton is in Brazil and then hopefully will spark some more interest, and then I can help grow it," Silveira said. 

The Brazilian athlete also believed that during her stay in Beijing, she got the chance to get along with other athletes and coaches, saying "I' m sure there's potential for [ice sports cooperation between China and Brazil] it."