India's Arif Khan finished 45th of 89 competitors in the giant slalom event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. He finished with a time of 2 minutes, 47.24 seconds, 37.89 seconds behind gold-medallist Marco Odermatt of Switzerland. Arif was 53rd in the standings after his first run of 1 minute, 22.35 seconds earlier in the day, and set the 44th best time (1 minute, 24.89 seconds) of the 46 competitors who finished the course in Run 2. "There was no room for error - once you committed a mistake you're out," Arif told ESPN soon after the first run.
Back home in Goiwara, family and friends had gathered at the Khan home to watch Arif live his Olympic dream.
"We were nervous first-up on seeing most of the skiers end up missing gates and taking a tumble, it was like straight out of a movie," Arif's brother Mehrajuddin told ESPN. "At the centre, we saw visibility wasn't that much, and the way he finished it was an exciting moment for all of us. We couldn't be happier than this to see him returning with the best results he could have."
"I personally, haven't such conditions anywhere; it was way different from what we have at Gulmarg. The accumulation of snow had further worsened the situation. He's technically strong in his game and better conditions could have further pushed him into 30 which is was looking at."
"My mother [Zarifa Begum] was disappointed a bit early on seeing the conditions and told me 'would he be able to make it'. I was like yes; he will at least break into 50 [considering the conditions]. He was unfazed," said Mehrajuddin.
At the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre, as soon as he made an appearance on a screen, Arif's father Yaseen was all smiles. "There is our mountain man," he said visibly emotional on seeing his on competing at the highest level. Yaseen, of course, remembers every disappointment when things got exponentially tougher for him and Arif, the financial crunch, the pressure to compete.
"He would have loved to whoosh down the slopes at speed. [But] as far as I could understand the track, the situation was quite complicated for skiers," he told ESPN. "To be honest, he has fared well. The conditions were not that good and there're psychological challenges. It was quite windy, which further saw skiers find it difficult, taking a tumble losing their skis. I believe more than 35 skiers didn't even finish the race," he said. In fact, 43 skiers in total didn't finish the race. "I haven't seen this much happening before. It was a really unfortunate thing. I feel for them as well."
"It was a riveting experience for him professionally and a joyful moment for all of us back at home. He has ignited a spark to see youngsters stepping up to ace their game. It's not over yet. My boy will come back stronger than before," said Yaseen.
"I was watching it closely it was like skiing on a mirror. The sound coming from the skiis was horrible and that showed how icy it was, which saw them losing their skis during the race. There was snow and low visibility making things worse. What he has done in the second half was incredible," said Waseem Ahmad Bhat, Arif's friend, and teammate who himself is scheduled to fly to Lebanon for an international competition. "I also had a brief conversation with Arif before the start of the race, he was like. He's going to make it despite the conditions. Arif also said he found the second half dangerous where most of the skiers took a tumble. He himself almost stopped before making it through," he said.
"It's all about going faster without giving up for a millisecond. It is a mental test which reveals your results within no time. Arif bhai has been outstanding overall. Happy with the way, he has performed. It takes a hell of a lot of courage [to ski fast] while adjusting to the conditions." said Mehrajuddin.
Arif's fiancée Sabina told ESPN, "Yes, it's true that [their] wedding was postponed. I wanted him to go and enjoy [the moment] for which he had given his blood and sweat, for which he had to wait for years. He has done well on the slopes in these extremely-looking tough circumstances. Now, I know the nitty-gritty of it. I will back him for it even if he has had not finished the race, I would have been proud to see him competing there as the lone competitor [from India]."
Tahir Ibn Manzoor is a Kashmir-based sports journalist. He tweets @TahirIbnManzoor