India competed at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. The country's participation in Beijing marked its eleventh appearance at the Winter Olympics since its debut in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. The India team consisted of one male alpine skier, Arif Khan, who was the country's flag-bearer during the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. He did not win a medal, and as of these Games, India had not earned a Winter Olympic medal. A volunteer served as the flag-bearer during the closing ceremony. Following China's decision to make one of its soldiers involved in the border clashes with India as a torchbearer for the Olympics, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced that no official from India would attend the opening or closing ceremony of the games.

Background

The Indian Olympic Association was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1927. However, by this time, they had already competed in three

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

, and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

. The nation made its first Winter Olympics appearance at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

held in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, Austria. This edition of the Games marked the nation's eleventh appearance at the Winter Olympics. While many countries from the west announced a diplomatic boycott of the games as a protest against the human rights abuses in China, India announced that it will not join the boycott and supported China during the tripartite summit involving the two countries and Russia. But following China's decision to make Qi Fabao, one of its soldiers involved in the July 2020 border skirmishes with India, as a torchbearer during the torch relay held on 7 February 2022 as a prelude to the Olympic games, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced a diplomatic boycott of the games and that no official from India will attend the opening or closing ceremony of the games. While India claimed that the games are being unnecessarily politicised, China dismissed its concerns. The Indian delegation consisted of '' chef de mission'' Harjinder Singh and a lone athlete, Arif Khan. Arif Khan was the country's flag-bearer during the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

, while a volunteer served as the flag-bearer during the closing ceremony. India did not win a medal, and as of these Games, had not earned a Winter Olympic medal.

Competitors

One Indian athlete competed in the Games.

Alpine skiing

The basic qualification mark for the

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

and

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

events stipulated an average of less than 160 points in the list published by the

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

(FIS) as on 17 January 2022. The quotas were allocated further based on athletes satisfying other criteria with a maximum of 22 athletes (11 male and 11 female athletes) from a single participating NOC. Indian alpine skier Arif Khan met the basic qualification standard with 127.20 points in the slalom and 137.26 points in the giant slalom categories. Subject to the other criteria, Khan qualified to participate in both the events at the games. Khan hailed from the

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

region of India. He won a gold medal in the slalom event in his first appearance at the India national championships. He made his international debut at the age of 16 at a junior event in Japan. He won two gold medals in the 2021

South Asian Winter Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

in the slalom and giant slalom events. He had taken part in three FIS Alpine World Ski Championships with his best result being 45th in the giant slalom event at the 2021 edition in Italy. The games marked Khan's first and only appearance at the Winter Olympic Games. In the giant slalom event held on 13 February 2022 at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre, Khan completed his first run in 1:22.35 to rank second to last among the 54 competitors. Though he took slightly longer to complete the course during his second run at 1:24.49, he ranked 44th. With a combined time of 2:47.24, he finished 45th in the overall classification. Khan registered the best ever finish by an Indian at the giant slalom event with the previous best being the 65th place achieved by

Jeremy Bujakowski Jeremy John Bujakowski, also known as Jarema Stanisław Bujakowski (March 30, 1939 – June 1, 2010), ...

in the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

. In the slalom event held on 16 February 2022, Khan failed to finish his first run, thus earning a DNF. He started strongly, crossing the first intermediate check-point in 14.40s and the second in 34.41s before he veered off course and failed to go through one of the gates in the final sector, thus crashing out of the competition.

Notes

References

{{Country at games navbox, India, Olympics Nations at the 2022 Winter Olympics 22022002 Winter Olympics 2022 in Indian sport

Background

Competitors

Alpine skiing

See also

Notes

References