Bormio (Italy), February 16 India's top alpine skier, Arif Mohammad Khan, finished 39th in the men's slalom event after two combined runs at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games here on Monday.
Khan clocked a combined time of 2 minutes 41.60 seconds to secure the last spot among those who completed both runs at the Stelvio Ski Centre, achieving India's best-ever finish in the men's slalom event at the Winter Olympics.
He finished 44th out of 96 competitors in the first run with a time of 1:22.12 and 39th in the second run with a time of 1:19.48, resulting in a combined time of 2:41.60 for a 39th place finish.
Kishore Ratna Rai's 49th-place finish with a time of 2:52.21 at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary was the previous best among Indian men.
However, India's best slalom finish at the Winter Olympics belongs to Shailaja Kumar, who finished 28th after clocking 2:52.27 in the women's event in Calgary in 1988.
Khan's combined time of 47.99 seconds was 1:53.61 more than the gold medalist, Loic Meillard of Switzerland.
Fabio Gstrein of Austria finished second with a time of 1:53.96, while Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway took the bronze with 1:54.74.
Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who had made history by winning the giant slalom on Saturday, becoming the first athlete from South America to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, failed to win another gold. His skis slipped on the first run.
Slalom is a high-speed technical alpine skiing or snowboarding discipline where competitors race down a slope, navigating a zigzag course marked by closely spaced, alternating sets of poles or "gates."
It is the fastest-turning event in alpine skiing, requiring quick, short turns to achieve the fastest combined time across two runs.
Failure to pass through any gate in Run 1 results in a DNF (Did Not Finish), which means the athlete cannot start the second run. Missing a gate or crashing off course in Run 2 also leads to a DNF, making the skier ineligible for a final classification.
Each competitor gets two runs, and the final rankings are based on the combined time from both attempts – the lower the total time, the better the result.
This was Arif Khan's second appearance at the Winter Olympics.
At the 2022 Beijing Games, he failed to finish in the men's slalom but finished 45th in the giant slalom – also India's best-ever finish in the event at the Winter Olympics.
Khan had turned to crowdfunding for participation in the Winter Olympics.
India's campaign also ended after Khan's event.
Earlier, India's Stanzin Lundup had finished 104th in the men's 10km freestyle cross-country skiing event.
