Bosnian 'wink guy' expresses love in Chinese

SARAJEVO - Bosnian luger Mirza Nikolajev thanked Chinese audience for their support in a video posted on Monday during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

"Hello, everyone I am Mirza Nikolajev, I am a luger, thank you for your love and support, I love China and love you," said the popular Olympic athlete in Chinese.

He ended the video with: "I love you all, and I will always remember the good memories here".

The video came along with a text in the Chinese language that reads "Happy New Year to you all! Sorry, my Chinese is not very good, I hope you can understand what I am saying."

The post on Instagram earned over 7,400 likes and almost 2,000 comments.

Nikolajev became known to many Chinese after the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, as his wink in front of the camera while carrying the Bosnian flag went viral.

The 20-year-old already finished his competition in the men's singles luge, ranking 34th and didn't qualify for the final run. However, he was still happy about his Olympic experience.

"This is all still unreal to me and I am so happy that I had a chance to represent my country, not in the light that I wanted to. But still this was an amazing experience and I need to say THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT!!!!" he said.

He thanked his family, his coach, and all the good people who helped him along the way. He concluded by saying that he can proudly go back home knowing that from now on it can only get "faster, higher, stronger - together".