Winter Olympics: Arif Khan records India’s best-ever finish in men’s slalom

NEW DELHI: India’s Arif Khan delivered the country’s best-ever performance in the men’s slalom event after finishing an overall 39th at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in Bormio.

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The alpine skier clocked 2:41.60 across his two runs for a top-40 finish as India concluded its campaign at the Games. The only other Indian athlete, Stanzin Lundup, finished 104th in the men’s 10km freestyle cross-country skiing event two days ago.




Arif broke the 38-year-old Indian record of a 49th-placed finish in the men’s slalom by Kishore Ratna Rai, who clocked 2:52.21 at Calgary 1988. During his competition round at the Stelvio Ski Centre, Arif was placed 44th out of 96 participants in run one with a time of 1:22.12 and 39th in run two clocking 1:19.48, which gave him a combined time of 2:41.60.

Arif’s combined time was 47.99 more than the eventual gold medallist Loic Meillard of Switzerland, who clocked 1:53.61. In slalom, competitors race down a slope, navigating a zigzag course marked by closely spaced, alternating sets of poles.

This was Arif’s second Winter Olympics appearance. At Beijing 2022, he failed to finish in the men’s slalom but came 45th in giant slalom.

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