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Learned discipline from Indian Army, it built me as an athlete, says Arif Khan
Arif Khan, the only athlete participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 hopes that his performance at the Olympics would help popularise winter sports in India and attract sponsorships for deserving winter sports athletes.
Arif Khan, from Kashmir, is the only Indian to be representing the country in Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. And the skier hopes that his performance at the Olympics this year would help popularise winter sports in India and attract sponsorships for deserving winter sports athletes. “The winter sports community isn’t that big in India and this sports category which includes sports like Ice Hockey, Ice skating, Alpine Skiing, Snowboarding etc, is still a lesser popular, lesser supported and lesser known sport category. Training in winter sports professionally is extremely costly and requires expensive equipments. As a result, only a handful of athletes go on to make a career in winter sports. This is probably one of the reasons why we have a very small number of winter sports athletes contesting to qualify at the winter Olympics, year on year. So out of the athletes who tried to qualify this year, I was the one who ultimately qualified. And as a result I have become the only Indian athlete to participate in Winter Olympics 2022,” says Khan.
The 31-year-old is not one to quit, and has persistently worked to make a name internationally, despite all the difficulties he faced. “I struggled financially many a times in my journey as a winter sport athlete. When the sport is not popular within the country, you don’t receive any sponsorship for it. People don’t choose you as a brand ambassador for their brands or feature you in advertisements because you aren’t being seen and your influence isn’t as much in the media. Owing to all this, there were many times when I debated quitting the sport, however my father always supported me with funds from whatever he earned from his tourism business in Gulmarg. Sometimes my richer friends from Delhi and Mumbai also sponsored my trips and trainings by giving me 5-6 lac rupees. However, training round the year always costed around 60-70 lacs, which was financially extremely draining for me. On top of this, staying in Kashmir can be challenging because of the frequent unrest in the valley. All of this took a mental toll on me,” he shares.
But what seems to be the reason for a career in winter sports to be expensive? “India has great mountain ranges, and a lot of snow that could be ideally utilized to train for winter sports. However, we are yet to build a proper infrastructure for winter sports that could be used for training by athletes. As a result athletes also lose out on having a space to train at and consequently a chance at performing better at world championships and Olympic events. Furthermore, because the country lacks the winter sport infrastructure and training facilities, athletes usually have to go to Europe to train and take coaching from. This makes it very difficult and expensive for an average winter sport athlete to keep pursuing winter sports professionally,” says Khan.
Having participated 127 times in International championships, Khan credits his resilience in life to Indian Army. Khan spent time till high school in an Army school in Tungmarg, Kashmir. “I’m an Army school student. The basic discipline skills and mental strength I have, are all due to the physical coaches from the Indian Army, who use to train us at school. They trained us so well, physically and mentally, that it actually built me as an athlete in life. They taught me how to dedicate myself to the nation and the significance of making one’s country proud. I learned courage and resilience from observing the Indian Army,” he says, adding, “The strength was always there to represent India at the Winter Olympics where I could have the worlds attention towards an athlete hailing from the lap of the Himalayas. India is lesser known to be home to a lot of snow, and it was my dream to represent India so I can introduce the country as a skiing sport destination.”
Khan’s journey in winter sports dates back to when he started skiing in 1994 at the age of 4. “My father opened up his own ski shop in 1970s. So he was the reason I learned skiing and started to enjoy it as a kid. Gradually, I got in to the sport of alpine skiing professionally,” he recounts as he realises that “In the history of Jammu and Kashmir he will be among the first few people as a flag bearer for India, representing a winter sport at the Winter Olympics.”
Trying to do his bit in making a career in winter sports affordable for the youth, Khan has started a ski academy in Kashmir., “Since the past five years, whenever I get time, I have been training the local kids in Kashmir in winter sports, often free of cost on the hills of Gulmarg. I have coached and prepared a team of young boys and girls. This is my way of contributing to making winter sports popular and affordable to the community. However, despite my efforts, these young aspiring athletes need support in terms of sponsorship for costly equipments and the right sort of facilities in Gulmarg. This is a challenge that we are currently battling,” informs Khan.
Ask Khan if there is talent brewing for winter sports within India and the athlete is quick to say, “Definitely! Winter sports is like home sports for the Kashmiri youth... because we live in the mountains, we are conditioned to survive in cold temperatures. I think youngsters of Himachal Pradesh too have these advantages and stand a chance at making a good winter sport athlete. The only challenge is infrastructure right now. I wish we could get just the basic infrastructure for winter sport, that doesn’t cost much. The infrastructure will in fact even help the local economy and attract tourists who enjoy participating in winter sports. In the Europe, winter sports is a 35,000 billion dollar economy yearly. The mountains in India are super greater than the Alps. The altitude, the terrain and the snow of our mountains have no match. The only thing we require is the attention towards developing it professionally and India can turn in to a winter sports destination!”
Does Khan feel that India could win a medal in the Winter Olympics this year? “To win a medal you require a lot of training and practice over the years along with funding. For a medal winning preparation you require over a budget of one crore rupees yearly. So, because this sport is primarily practiced in European countries and North America and is expensive, therefore you can not expect a medal but you can expect good skiing down the hill. My performance will attract people’s attention to the sport and will bring awareness on the global level that India is a winter sport destination. So medals, the following generations will bring if they are financially supported,” says Khan.
Author tweets @FizzyBuddha
