The Lone Ranger

To have the honour of carrying the National Flag and being the sole representative of a massive nation in a major International sporting event is no mean achievement. This is an  amazing story of a young man who defied the odds to realise a dream which he so painstakingly nurtured. This is the story of Mohammad Arif Khan, the Skier, who became the first ever athlete from India to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games earning his spot in two events, the Slalom* and the Great Slalom** in the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.

A native of Gulmarg, the picturesque hill station in the Baramulla district of Jammu & Kashmir, a popular skiing destination in India, where his father Yasin Khan owns a Ski Equipment shop, Arif took up to skiing at the tender age of 4. The sport just came to him naturally and his father, seeing the interest of skiing in his child, prepared and groomed a small skiing slope just outside his shop. Arif spent hours and hours on the slope skiing away in the snow. The fledgling interest soon took shape of a full blown passion for skiing and by the age of 10 Arif started competing in skiing events and soon the word spread of his talent and ability and by the age of 12, Arif had won the National Championship in the Slalom event in his very first appearance.

The talent was sublime, but the sport being an expensive one, needed more than just appreciation and accolades. It required investments and specialised training to keep Arif competitive in the tough sport. Yasin Khan, poured his earnings from the ski equipment shop to support his son’s dream and Arif himself became a Skiing Instructor to  further his cause. Arif slowly and steadily started participating at International Events particularly at the Asian level with some good performances to show for his hardwork. However the going was not easy and the gap between his performances and world class athletes was still huge.

Arif persevered and went on improving and set his sights on participating in 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Finances were scarce and Arif had to resort to Crowd Funding to support his ambition. Unfortunately, he fell short by a small margin and was unable to participate in the Games. Notwithstanding the disappointment, Arif strengthened his resolve further and eventually with a good showing at the World Championships in Italy in 2021, he made the cut and qualified for the Beijing games in both the Slalom and the Great Slalom events.

A dream realised eventually. Whatever may be the outcome of his performances at the Olympics, the fact that Arif has come this far and being the only one from India ever to have done that, is truly commendable and speaks volumes of the grit and determination displayed by Arif and his family. He can only improve from here and may be in the future we may witness a medal coming our way at the Winter Olympics too from Arif, and if not from him, then surely from someone amongst the many who he would have inspired by now.

The story of Arif Khan, the young man with an impregnable will,  is nothing short of an exceptional script. How many of us lose hope and succumb to hardships and adversity, just to abandon the dreams we once harboured.

Never let go of your dreams and ambitions, nurture then, stay focussed and determined and the day will come when the dream will be realised…the way it happened for Arif, the Lone Ranger at the top, making a nation proud.

*Slalom : A Ski race down a winding track of snow marked by poles on either side .
** Great Slalom : Similar to Slalom, with a larger course and larger distance between poles.