Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: Arif Mohammed Khan becomes 1st Indian to qualify for multiple events
Arif Mohammed Khan is an alpine skier from India. He has become the first Indian who will feature in multiple Winter Olympics events. The event will be played between February 4-20.
FollowIn a historic moment for India, alpine skier Arif Mohammed Khan has become the first Indian to qualify for multiple events during the Winter Olympics. He will be taking part in the men's giant slalom and slalom event at the competition, which will be held in Beijing from February 4-20. While he had qualified for the latter last month, the qualification for the former came in on Wednesday.
Arif hails from Jammu & Kashmir and qualified for the giant slalom during the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) in Kolasin, Montenegro. He is the only Indian so far to have qualified for Beijing. His Indian counterpart in the women's category, Aanchal Thakur, stays in contention, having recently won a bronze in women's giant slalom.
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As for the qualification criteria in both events, the average of the five best results of events held between July 1, 2019, and January 16, 2022, are being taken into consideration. On the other hand, alpine skiers with less than five-event experience have an extra 20% of average points added to the FIS points table. For the slalom, the skier skis some sets of poles, set at a distance from each other, while in giant slalom, the space is more significant.
During the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, India had a couple of qualifiers. Jagdish Singh participated in the 15km freestyle event in cross-country skiing. Also, Shiva Keshavan competed in the luge. In Beijing, the men's giant slalom will be held on February 13, with the slalom being held on February 16.
