Bosnia and Herzegovina's Mirza Nikolajev takes part in the men's singles luge training session at the National Sliding Centre in Beijing, capital of China, February 2, 2022. Photo: Xinhua/Sun Fei

Bosnian luger Mirza Nikolajev, wrapped up Sunday evening's competition at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games after he went viral on Chinese social media. His witty wink on the Beijing 2022's opening ceremony impressed the audience.

Being the first to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to compete in Olympic luge in 24 years, the 20-year-old wrapped up his third round at the luge event in the Men's Singles Run. With a time of 3:05.349, the Bosnian failed to pass into the fourth round.

Nikolajev grabbed massive attention in China earlier during the opening ceremony on Friday night, where he paraded as flag bearer for BiH and winked in front of the camera.

The exclusive wink brought him thousands of followers on social media in one night. Nikolajev shared his excitement on social media where he said: "Because of these Olympics and the 'wink' I got so much support and love from all of you."

Nikolajev started his luge career in 2015 when he saw a video and was attracted to it. In an interview he said the sport "brings energy as well as adrenaline." 

However, Nikolajev did not have enough training sessions due to financial reasons and only got the opportunity to train abroad in winter. In summer, Nikolajev completed his everyday training on an abandoned cycling track. 

In the past five years, the Bosnian has been using a 12-year-old second-hand luge for all of his competitions.

"It has been 24 years to see luge [from BiH] reappear on the Olympic stage. I am so proud of it and will remember it for rest of my life," Nikolajev shared on social media after Friday's opening ceremony.