Hungarian sports leader wishes China successful Winter Olympics

BUDAPEST -- Krisztian Kulcsar, president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, conveyed a warm message of gratitude and wished China a successful Winter Olympics on Monday.

"First of all, a big thank you for the Chinese people for hosting the Games under these difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. I wish them good luck. I wish that the Olympic Games are as successful as they expect, and I wish the same for the Hungarian delegation," Kulcsar said.

The Hungarian delegation will be relatively small, consisting of between 15 and 20 athletes, with the core part being the short track speed skating team, according to Kulcsar.

"In the PyeongChang Games, we had a historic gold medal, so we expect to have medals in Beijing too, maybe not one but more," he said.

A former fencer, Kulcsar competed at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

"It was my last Olympics as an athlete, and I cherish those beautiful memories there. The Beijing Games was a fantastic Olympics, seeing all the efforts the people in China put into the Olympics, and I am sure that in two months' time we'll see something similar but in the Winter edition," said Kulcsar, a two-time Olympic silver medalist.

Kulcsar said he will be traveling to Beijing, as president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee. "This is a tradition in the Hungarian Olympic family."

"The simple fact that we are having the Winter Olympics is a big success. COVID-19 is a big problem on the planet in general. We, the sport family, are suffering a lot, so our approach is not to complain or to criticize the measures the organizers are taking, but to thank the opportunity. With these difficult circumstances and the extra costs related to the pandemic, the organizers are sticking to their idea to organize the games," he underlined.

The Hungarian sports leader believes that the Olympic Games is truly a unique opportunity that brings people closer through sports.

"Athletes speak the same language: the language of sports, the language of higher, faster, stronger, together!"

He said he was "very sad to hear" about any kind of boycott.

"Of course people do not agree on anything. I understand that there are tensions in the world, but I think that the sport movement should be the last which is suffering from the problems of the world, because as I just said, the aim of the sport is to get through all these oppositions and hatred," Kulcsar said.

"In the past we saw bad examples when athletes were also banned from participating, we Hungarians also suffered in 1984 and we have very sad memories about that, so personally I am against any kind of boycotts."