India’s alpine skier Arif Mohammed Khan has become the first Indian athlete who qualified for two different events of the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics are set to be conducted in Beijing from February 4-20, in 2022.
The Indian Athlete
On Wednesday, the 31-year-old athlete secured a 2022 Winter Olympics quota spot in men’s giant slalom event. Arif has secured this spot during the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) meet held at Kolasin, Montenegro.
A report by olympics.com said, "While Arif remains the only Indian to have made the cut for the 2022 Winter Games so far, his compatriot Aanchal Thakur, who recently won a bronze in the women’s giant slalom, remains in the hunt for qualification."
The Giant Slalom
Slalom is an event which involves skiing between sets of poles spaced at a distance from each other. The distance of poles is kept greater in giant slalom than in slalom. For the athletes to compete in giant slalom or slalom events at the 2022 Winter Games, the average of five best results in the event from July 1, 2019 to January 16, 2022 is considered. In the International Ski Federation (FIS) points list, for alpine skiers who competed in less than five events during this period, an extra 20 percent of the average points is added.