Arif Khan gets DNF in men's slalom event, its a wrap for team India at 2022 Winter Olympics

The Indian contingent concluded their 2022 Beijing Olympic campaign following Alpine skier Mohammad Arif Khan's DNF (did not finish) in the men's slalom event today. Khan was India's lone representative at the Winter Games.

Austria's Johannes Strolz finished on top in Run 1 in 53.92s while the Norwegian duo of Henrik Kristoffersen (53.94s) and Sebastian Foss-Silevaag (53.98s) finished second and third respectively.

Khan had earlier clocked a combined time of 2 minutes 47.24s from two races in a men's giant slalom event at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre on February 13.

Making his debut in the Games in Beijing, Khan finished 53rd in Race 1 with a time of 1:22.35. Amidst the unfavoured weather conditions he did decently well on his debut where nearly 33 skiers failed to finish Race 1 while a few could not event start.

The 31-year-old finished 45th in Beijing and now holds the record for the best finish by an Indian athlete in a men's giant slalom event at the Winter Olympics.

Arif Khan speaks about debut Winter Olympics experience

Arif Khan, who marked his debut by finishing 45th at the Beijing Winter Olympics, shared his experience about the quadrennial event. He feels that more people from India should participate at the Winter Games in the future. Arif said:

"It's one of my dreams to be at Winter Olympics and this is my first time. It really means a lot. It's a great message back to our country and to our people to join winter sports in the future."

He added:

"There were like millions of people watching me live back home. I was trying my best to give the best I have got. But the weather was uncertain, you couldn't see much… like how the slope was used but it was good."