Lebanese skier at the Winter Olympics

Lebanese skier Chirine Njeim was born in Beirut on October 4, 1984. She trained in Alpine skiing in France and at the Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City, USA, where she took part at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. She is now participating at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy in all the five Alpine skiing racing disciplines (downhill, super-G, giant, slalom, plus the "combined").

How did she fare? Well, probably Michaela Dorfmeister and Janica Kostelić were not particularly worried during the Super-G on Monday.

Lebanon, although usually associated with olive groves and palm trees, is a ski and snowboarding holiday destination with six resorts. The two most important ones are Faraya, which is best known for its sparkling après-ski society life in addition to its slopes, and Al-Arz, near the renowned cedars groove above Bsharreh.

(Update, May 30: You can have a glimpse of Lebanese slopes and jet set life in Nawal Al Zoghbi's latest video, Shou Akhbarak.)