February 17, 2015 (Falun, Sweden) – She’s already won all the races she’s skied during the winter in her native Iran. And Wednesday’s WSC qualifying round will be the first competition outside her home country for 23 year-old Samueh Beramie Baher.  “It’s really exciting,” says Teheran’s first female national team skier.

It was last Thursday that the Iranian national ski team arrived at the WSC venue in Falun. There will be four Iranian skiers on the starting line for Wednesday’s qualifiers, 5km for ladies and 10km for men, both skate. The ten best men and ten best ladies from the qualifying round go on to take part in all the individual World Championships events.

“It’s difficult to say how we’ll get on. Obviously we’ll just do our very best and we’re greatly looking forward to the races,” says coach Mostafa Mirhashemi who took part in the training camp with his national team at Åsarna and Östersund five years ago.

And now he’s back in Sweden again.  For 23 year-old Samueh Beramie Baher, the WSC qualifying race will be her first competition outside her native Iran. “I’ve been on snow for a total of two months during the past year. And before we came to the WSC, I’ve taken part in six competitions at home in Iran. And won them all,” says Samueh.

So you’re the star of the Iranian team?
“Haha, well maybe a star in Iran. But I’m definitely not a star in comparison with the skiers here in the World Championships”, she smiles disarmingly.

So how come you chose to become a cross-country skier?
“Well, I enjoy training and I like to do long sessions, once I’ve started training. And I really feel I’ve found the right sport for me. I’ve been cross-country skiing for six years now and it’s really cool,” says Samueh Beramie Baher as she walks into the World Championships arena in Falun for the very first time.

It’s worth mentioning too that the 23-year old is the first ever female national team skier to come from the capital of Tehran, a city of more than eight million.

The other members of the Iranian cross-country team are Seyed Sattur Seyd and Yasin Shemshaki on the men’s team and Farzaneh Rezasoltani on the ladies’.