Nour Keirouz: Lebanon’s six-time cross-country skiing champion carries the torch

Hours into a race, with her body begging her to stop, Nour wills it numb and lets her brain take the lead. “In a five-kilometer race, I would think I have a climb, I will lose my breath, then comes a descent where I can rest a bit. Hyping myself up, I was sure I was going to win”. This mindset got Nour Keirouz through some of the most stamina-testing cross-country skiing races.  

The winding trail

The 32-year-old Lebanese woman won the title of Lebanon’s cross country skiing champion six times. She started Alpine racing at seven years old in Poussin. Then she became a ski racing coach in college, later switching to cross-country skiing in her comeback, winning three years in a row.

She represented Lebanon in two world championships in Austria and Germany. In Lebanon, Nour finished second in SES CUP, competing against fifteen states, and won numerous races. In the first world championship, she wasn’t prepared for the track. The year she anticipated a good result was Germany, that’s when she took a fall. The year after, in 2022, she had 330 points and needed to lower her score by thirty points to qualify for the winter Olympics, when she got pregnant with her son. She had to stop racing altogether and begin coaching.

“As a Lebanese woman, I feel proud coming from a marginalized country. I owe everything to my parents who invested their hard-earned money in our talent”, admits Nour. Her mother was Lebanon’s Alpine skiing champion for ten years, then the cross-country champion for ten years, with five years where the two titles overlapped, no one could beat her. “I was born to ski”. Her sister raced and her brother was a freestyler. “My children will brag about me like I used to brag about my mother”.

Champagne powder

In the Middle East, Lebanon is one of the best countries for skiing with its natural snow. The season used to be longer, now shortened because of global warming. When she traveled abroad for training camps and to race before and after the season, people would tell her: “You have snow in Lebanon, really?” The image the skiers carried with them is one of four seasons, a country where you can ski and swim on the same day.

“I’ve been everywhere from Italy to Austria, one of the top countries for training”, says Nour. The most beautiful mountains she’s skied are in Austria, St Anton and Seefeld; it’s underrated and boasts very nice slopes. In addition, it’s not as crowded as Courchevel, which is more of a fashion show and après-ski destination. “Whoever goes once doesn’t go again, especially since the slopes are not ideal”.

The mountain always leads

Nour had to give up a career in interior architecture because of the grueling demands of training, traveling every ten days. She sacrificed a career and nowadays she’s giving up time with her family. “Everything I learnt I’m giving away in coaching”, says Nour. She would even love to join the federation. Knowing first-hand what athletes must withstand, she is best equipped to help them and advance this sport in Lebanon.

No athlete in the world doesn’t have an income, except in Lebanon. “We need to highlight the sport, explain it to people and get sponsorship for the athletes”. She aims to send them to training camps as much as possible and give them a salary as motivation.

When Nour was eleven, the coach told her mom: “Nour can be one of the top skiers in the world. She must follow the ski season from country to another in an academy where she can pursue her studies”. The world champions have graduated from it. Nonetheless, the problem remains the high tuition fees. Added to that was the fact that leaving the country at such a young age was not appealing to her parents.

In Seefeld, Austria, Nour represented Lebanon in the 2019 World Championship. “It was the best feeling in the world. In my first ever opening ceremony, we walked 1 kilometer, screaming crowds on either side, and carrying the flag. I started to cry. I thought: God, how did I get here?”. This proud moment and level of accomplishment translated to: “You need to push hard, beyond your limits”.

A smear campaign

Nour had her fair share of obstacles in skiing. In 2018, they tried to tear her down for being successful, even accusing her of doping in Lebanon. A begrudged athlete, who was used to winning the title, didn’t expect her to become Lebanon’s champion after her comeback.

The year prior Nour had finished last. For the next 365 days, she trained with the army and commandos, went up to the Qurnat as Sawda' following the snow, training until July. She won the first race; they chalked it up to chance. On the second win, they accused her of doping. She was racing devastated for fear over her career, they could forbid her from racing for ten years.

She finished all the races and got five gold out of five. “Whenever someone would tell me: Mabrouk Nour, Lebanon’s champion! I would burst into tears”. They tested her, it came out negative and was published in the official newspaper. Later, they apologized to her after crushing her spirits.

No one who ever succeeded didn’t pay a high price for it. Her mission is to teach her kids about these people and that: “If you don’t win first place it’s not the end of the world. You learn from it, then you earn it”. First time they try, they might finish last. If they are willing to put in the work, slowly but surely, they will progress and come out on top, just as their mother did.