Why It’s Important for Arif Khan To Reach the Winter Olympics 2018
“It is unfortunate that due to the paucity of funds, the Indian Olympic Association has advised us to arrange his sponsorship locally through any reliable sources to meet his travelling expenses. It is estimated that an expenditure of Rs. 1,61,000 would incur on his tour. It is as such requested to kindly arrange his sponsorship through your sports council or any other funding agency immediately failing which this promising athlete would miss this great opportunity.”
The letter is from the General Secretary of the Winter Games Federation of India and the “promising athlete” they are talking about is Arif Khan, India’s best skier by far and the national champion for five years running. And they have no money to pay for his travel, uniform, or stay for the Winter Asian Games 2017 being held in Sapporo, Japan. Arif has already spent ₹5.3 Lacs on training and equipment, coughing up another ₹1.6 lac is really the last straw.
There is dismay written all over his face. “How will I pay for this?” I can’t borrow any more money from Yasin.” Yasin Khan is Arif’s father, owner of a ski rental shop in Gulmarg and a man with unshakable faith in his son’s sporting abilities. But there’s a limit to which Yasin can continue to fund an expensive sport like skiing — and he has reached that limit.
Arif’s goal is to represent India in the Winter Olympic Games of 2018. Everything he’s been doing, all the training, the borrowing of money from friends and family, is all towards this ultimate aim — to hold the national tri-colour, to represent his country at the highest level of the sport.
“I know I can do it, I know I can qualify. The only thing that will stop me is the resources,” says Arif confidently, with a gentle shake of his head.
In the early days, the best skier in the country got to go for the Olympic Games. No longer. Simply put, now, one has to accumulate FIS ( Fédération Internationale de Ski) points to qualify. And you gather those FIS points by participating in international ski races across the world. India has no such competition — our best slopes in Gulmarg are not FIS approved, so racers like Arif have to travel the world, live there, train there, participate in the races, accumulate the points and move on to the next race. It’s not cheap. In fact, if you added up all the costs of travel, accommodation, coaching and equipment, Arif needs close to ₹70 lacs to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Arif’s FIS Points currently stand at 170.82 (down from 368.25 last month) in the Slalom and 204.45 (down from 353.36 last month) in the Giant Slalom. He needs to have 140 points or less to qualify for the Olympic Games in 2018. Arif has come closer to his Olympic dream in less than a month, but there is still some way to go.
The Italian Coach who used to train the Swiss B Team and is presently training the Japanese team in Italy, has agreed to take Arif into his academy. That would entail an annual cost of around US$40,000.
That is why we at Mercury Himalayan Explorations Ltd. decided to take up Arif’s cause. That, and because we’ve known Arif since he was 10. We’ve seen him struggle, head out to train on icy cold winter morning s — alone, pat the slopes down single-handedly, sweep it clean himself, to ensure there’s no snow pile that could break his speed, go straight to school later, come back and hit the slopes again. We’ve seen him work his way through the summer months to earn enough money to buy himself pro skis for the next winter and we’ve been witness to his father Yasin Khan’s constant struggle to pay for Arif’s travel and coaching — and the proud Pathan that he is, he would never ask for help.
There’s a crowd-funding campaign we started: Help Arif Represent India at the Winter Olympic Games 2018. We’ve only asked for ₹10 Lacs — the money Arif immediately needs to pay back the money borrowed from friends and family for the Asian Games, to purchase new pro skis, and to head out to his next destination to gather his FIS Points. In the meantime, we continue to work to try and get Arif a corporate sponsorship, something that will help him in the longer run and allow him to focus just on his sport - which is as it should be.
Does Arif have a chance at winning a medal at the Winter Olympics in 2018? It’s too early to say. But can you, for one moment, imagine the impact his presence at the Olympic Games will have on the youth of Kashmir? Shut your eyes for a minute and imagine Arif holding up the Indian tri-colour proudly - the same Arif that has skied down the Gulmarg slopes with those boys, gone to school with them. Can you imagine how that would resonate? What a difference it would make to their lives? That imagery spells hope, it shows us a better, more peaceful tomorrow. And that image, that dream, is worth all the struggle, the heartache…it just makes it all so worth it.
“The slopes of Gulmarg are perfect for winter sports. Kashmir can create many more winners in winter sports and bring in the tourists too. This is what I want to prove through my achievements, this is what I want to show to the rest of the country.”
Epilogue: India sent a 22-member team to the Winter Asian Games 2017 this February in Sapporo, Japan. Of these, 15 were athletes and seven were coaches, technical assistants, and observers. Which begs the question, did these officials also pay for themselves? Or did the Federation ‘find’ the funds to pay for them? Just curious.
