Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (DUBAI)
Alexander Astridge and Piera Hudson got a spirited send-off at Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates on Sunday, as they set off for Italy to make history for the UAE when they compete at the Winter Olympics - a dream that was set in motion in 2018 when the UAE Winter Sports Federation was formed.
The pair will compete in the slalom skiing events at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, where nearly 2,900 athletes will take part in 16 disciplines from February 6 to 22. The UAE federation has painstakingly structured a programme to grow a sporting ecosystem with the help of the National Olympic Committee (NOC), from which Astridge and Hudson have now emerged.
For Astridge, the Olympic dream began almost as soon as Ski Dubai opened its doors. Now 19, he has lived in Dubai since he was six months old, having been born in Cambridge to an Italian mother and a New Zealander father.
“I learned how to ski when I was three years old in Ski Dubai,” he told Aletihad. “My mum just wanted me to have an essential life skill. I was taking lessons with my sister and it really just started there.”
What followed was a childhood shaped by the indoor slopes. “This here has been my whole life – my childhood. I’d finish school and come here and ski,” Astridge said. “Me and my sister were the first sponsored athletes and we really pushed each other. It’s incredible that we’ve reached the Winter Olympic stage now.”
The sport may have taken him places, but the UAE remains his base. “There’s no going back home for me. Dubai is my home,” he said.
One summer was spent in South America, where winter conditions allow inverted-season training, while Italy has become a familiar base in the lead-up months ever since he secured qualification.
“When I was 17, I was coming back from a big injury and I went to the Guangzhou Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2024,” he said. South American Cup races followed, then the Asian Winter Games in Harbin. “Now I’ve qualified for the Olympics with some experience so hope to do better.
“I did four qualification legs at home and then my final one was in Italy. I got to the bottom and my coach was there, and he told me I’d qualified,” Astridge recalls. “I don’t think I said a word for about an hour. I was just smiling. It was unreal.”
He has not sat idle, though. He joined up with a private Italian team based near the Olympic venues and has been training there. “It was organised by me, but the federation really supported me to go there,” he clarified.
Hudson Back in Cortina
Hudson’s path has been slightly different, but equally international. Born in New Zealand, she grew up moving between hemispheres, with family ties to Dubai stretching back two decades.
“A few years ago I decided I wanted to live here myself,” she said. “When I realised there was a UAE Winter Sports Federation, I contacted them and trained at Ski Dubai. From then on, I knew this was the country I wanted to represent.
“I’ve competed in the World Championships, including in Cortina, where I finished 12th out of more than 80 competitors,” she said. “So there is a bit of familiarity and purpose to do better.
“I’ve had four knee surgeries since that result,” Hudson said. “There have been some really tough years, but I’ve never lost the motivation. The Olympics have always been my end goal.”
Now based in Italy since October, her confidence is not misplaced. “I’ve free-skied on the Olympic slope [at the competition venue] many times. Once I get there, I’ll know exactly what I’m up against.”
Federation Support
Behind both athletes stands Mohammed Moulay, who has been part of Ski Dubai since 2007 and has coached Astridge since he was three.
“We’ve been 16 years together on this journey,” he said. “The plan really started in 2018 when the UAE became a full member of the international skiing federation. This has been long in planning, hand-in-hand with Ski Dubai, the Federation and the NOC.”
Qualification, Moulay insists, is proof of substance. “To qualify now, you need to go through many competitions and reach certain FIS points,” he said. “You cannot just choose an athlete and take him there. There’s no plan just to participate – we want good results.”
For Moulay, Milan and Cortina are a starting line rather than a finish.
“This will inspire the next generation,” he said. “People always ask how someone can start skiing in Dubai and end up at the Olympics. Now they can see that it’s possible.”
In Italy next week, the UAE’s winter pioneers will carry more than a flag. They will carry a blueprint.
