by sportswriter Ren Yaoting

TESERO, Italy, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- As sunlight poured over the snow-covered tracks, Nicolas Claveau-Laviolette stood in the finish area with a smile of relief and exhilaration. For the 20-year-old cross-country skier from Venezuela, a tropical country with no ski resorts and no winter sports tradition, simply completing his Olympic races was a dream come true.

Claveau-Laviolette is Venezuela's sole competitor at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and the country's sixth athlete to qualify for the Winter Games. He is also the first Venezuelan ever to compete in Olympic cross-country skiing.

Competing as a "one-man delegation," he finished 88th and 98th, respectively, in two men's individual sprint events held in Tesero, marking a historic breakthrough for Venezuela in the discipline.

"Just weeks ago, I wasn't even sure I would make it here," he told Xinhua. "Now I've finished two races at the Olympics. It's unbelievable. It's a dream come true."

FROM TROPICS TO SNOWFIELDS

On paper, Claveau-Laviolette's nationality appears to defy logic. Venezuela, located along the Caribbean coast of South America, has a warm climate year-round and no domestic winter sports infrastructure.

Born in Lecheria, Anzoategui state, he moved to Quebec, Canada, with his family at a young age. His father, a civil engineer who once worked in Caracas, introduced him to cross-country skiing at age 10.

"It was my father who brought me into this sport," he said. Holding dual Venezuelan and Canadian citizenship, he said he never struggled with identity. "I want to fight for my country, for the place where I was born."

Training in Canada enabled him to build competitive strength. As a member of the Laval University cross-country ski team, he steadily accumulated points in International Ski Federation events. Last November, at a World Cup competition in Ruka, Finland, he secured nearly 300 Olympic qualification points - enough to clinch a historic berth for Venezuela.

At that moment, he realized he was not only chasing personal goals but opening a door for a nation unfamiliar with snow.

A PASSPORT RACE AGAINST TIME

His Olympic journey, however, was nearly derailed by an unexpected hurdle: his Venezuelan passport had expired.

Under Olympic rules, athletes must travel with valid passports. Yet, due to diplomatic constraints, Venezuela's consular services in Canada were not fully operational, making renewal there impossible. Less than two weeks before the Games, Claveau-Laviolette flew back to Venezuela to secure new documents.

Within a week, he completed the paperwork while attending media events and meeting officials from the Venezuelan Olympic Committee, whose president, Maria Soto, assisted in expediting the process.

"I was treated like a king," he recalled. "So many Venezuelans wrote to me, saying they were proud and wanted to see me compete. It really moved me."

The passport was issued in time. When he finally stood at the Olympic start line, he carried not only his own aspirations but also the hopes of supporters thousands of kilometers away.

PRESENCE AS VICTORY

Since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, only five Venezuelans had qualified for the Winter Games. After the Sochi Games in 2014, the country was absent from the next two Winter Olympics.

As Venezuela's only representative in Milan-Cortina, Claveau-Laviolette also served as flag bearer at the opening ceremony, lifting the yellow, blue and red tricolor high in northern Italy's winter night.

After his race on Thursday, under bright Tesero sunshine, he spoke to Xinhua wearing only a sleeveless top. Asked whether he felt cold, he waved the question aside. "Don't worry, I'm not cold at all. The warm sunshine makes me feel like I'm back in Venezuela."

For him, the true measure of success lies beyond rankings.

"I hope that in four years, Venezuela can have at least one, maybe two or three athletes at the Winter Olympics," he said. "If my participation makes that path a little easier, that would mean everything."

Unlike many full-time professional athletes, Claveau-Laviolette remains a university student majoring in civil engineering. After the Games, he will return to campus to prepare for midterm exams.

Looking ahead, he hopes to represent Venezuela again at next year's Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden, and continue improving his results.

For a nation without snow, his journey may seem improbable. Yet in carving his tracks across Olympic trails, Claveau-Laviolette has shown that for some countries, simply being present is itself a victory. ■