Update: As of Jan. 13 Zawaideh was “mathematically eliminated” from qualifying. Ed.
The Jan. 18 deadline to qualify for the 2026 Olympics is fast approaching. For Sharif Zawaideh, a 45-year-old Seattle native and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski instructor, that deadline caps three years of chasing winter almost nonstop.
“Skiing all winter, spring, summer, fall, and now winter again in like 15 different countries, I think, on four continents,” Zawaideh said in a phone interview in his hotel room while between competitions in Austria.
One of the most unusual training stops came with the United Arab Emirates national team inside a shopping mall.
“That was pretty great because when you’re not on the mountain, you get to go to the beach,” Zawaideh said. “It’s 28 degrees [Fahrenheit] inside, but 95 degrees outside.”
Since declaring his Olympic bid, Zawaideh has shaved more than 20 seconds off his times in Slalom and Giant Slalom. That beats his goal from three years ago, when he announced his intentions. Still, he says he needs to drop two more seconds more in a matter of days.
“It just means I have to be absolutely perfect and hope that the best guys aren’t,” Zawaideh said.
Zawaideh is pursuing the Olympic dream largely on his own, without a coach, trainer or support staff.
“[I’m] driving myself to every race, tuning my skis, going to the coaches’ meetings,” Zawaideh said. “And then obviously I need to show up and be my best self on the hill as well.”
What keeps him going, he said, is the community he’s found along the way, particularly among athletes from emerging ski nations such as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal. It’s a connection that he hopes will sustain him in the years to come if, on the chance, he doesn’t land a bid in the 2026 Olympics.
“I don’t want these relationships to fizzle and end and die,” Zawaideh said.
Zawaideh turns 46 on the day of the opening ceremonies.
This story has been updated to correct the name of the event — Ed.
