INTERNATIONAL: From the deserts of Saudi Arabia to the slopes of the Beijing winter games, skier Fayik Abdi will be the first to represent the Kingdom in Alpine skiing races at the winter Olympics in China.

Abdi has mainly been practising Utah since moving to the US in 2012, and said that one of his main challenges was not being able to practice in his home country.

Participating in his first race in Sweden, Abdi competed against athletes from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria. He then went on to Montenegro where he accumulated enough points to qualify for the Winter Olympics.

Head coach, Daniel Sanz had to work with Abdi within a very tight period, having only seven months to achieve this qualification.

"We did it because... the guy showed a really good attitude and commitment to this project and that passion brought them to this such event," Sanz added.

The giant slalom has attracted competitors from countries with no medal winning record in the sport, including Abdi, and violinist Vanessa Mae who competed for Thailand at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The winter games have brought all different kinds of competitors, from remote places around the world that have not seen snow to allow people to follow their dreams to compete in an Olympics.