Mohammad Arif Khan Biography: As Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics opened on February 4, the world has its eyes on Mohammad Arif Khan, the only Indian athlete to represent India at the multi-sport event. He is also the first athlete from India to earn a quota place for the Winter Olympics 2022.
Mohammad Arif Khan Biography
| Birth | 3 March 1990 |
| Age | 31 years |
| Father | Yasin Khan |
| Occupation | Alpine Skier |
| Medals | Two gold medals |
Mohammad Arif Khan: Birth, Age and Family
Mohammad Arif Khan is an alpine skier who has represented India four times in the world championships. He was born on 3 March 1990 in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir. His father Yasin Khan owns a ski-equipment shop in Gulmarg and that's how his love for the sport grew.
"As children, we used to play football and cricket, but there was no playground around us. Skiing was the only convenient sport for us," Mohammad Arif Khan was quoted by the Rediff website as saying.
Mohammad Arif Khan Career
The 31-year-old athlete started skiing at the age of four and turned to competitive skiing when he was 10.
He steadily rose up the ladder and made his debut at the national championship where he clinched a gold medal in the slalom at the age of 12.
Arif was 16 when he made his international debut for India in the junior international ski federation (FIS) event held in Yomase, Japan. He finished 23rd in the giant slalom.
He won two gold medals in slalom and giant slalom in 2011 at the South Asian Winter Games.
In the 2013 FIS World Ski Championships, he finished at 59th position in the slalom and 91st in the giant slalom. Thenceforth, he competed in three more world championships.
His career-best at the world event was in 2021 when he finished 45th in the giant slalom in Italy and for the first time qualified for the final in a world championship event.
In September 2021, Mohammad Arif Khan planned to get married but decided to put all his energies into qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics. He qualified for the slalom event in November 2021 and earned a quota in December 2021.
He will represent India in the giant slalom on February 13 and in the slalom on February 16.
Mohammad Arif Khan: Funding and inclusion in TOPS
Arif's father funds for his training and other expenses and Arif also doubles up as a skiing instructor to make up for the shortfall as skiing is an expensive sport.
However, ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics, Khan fell short of the funds and turned to crowdfund but it proved a futile exercise.
Subsequently, he was included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) core group, India's flagship programme to support potential Olympic medallists.
Arif was quoted by The Hindu as saying, "I want to put my country on the skiing map. If I can achieve something, the global skiing community will take note of where I am from. It might make them see India as a potential top skiing destination."
| What is Alpine Skiing? In slalom and giant slalom, two of the alpine skiing events, the competitors skii between sets of poles positioned at a distance from each other. The difference between slalom and giant slalom is the distance. The distance is greater in giant slalom. The goal is to clock the quickest time possible while passing through the poles. Each athlete gets two runs and the cumulative time decides the ranking and winners. |
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation