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Arif Khan Sets New Records As He Leads The Indian Contingent At Winter Olympics
|India was the 23rd contingent to walk in during the mega ceremony at the enigmatic Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing as China embraced athletes from 84 different nations amid a diplomatic boycott by powerful countries over its reported human rights violations under the Xinjiang region.
Beijing Skier Arif Khan spearheaded a small Indian contingent during the Winter Olympics 2022 opening ceremony on February 4 amid a diplomatic boycott of the event by the nation. The 31-year-old will be the only Indian competitor at the Beijing Winter Olympics, having qualified for the Slalom and Giant Slalom events. In total, India had sent a six-member contingent to the Games, including a coach, a team manager and a technician.
Arif is also the record first Indian to qualify in two events of the Winter Games' same edition and will be in action on February 13 and 16.
Team #India🇮🇳in traditional #Himachali caps on international stage!!
— Sonia Randhawa (@SoniRw) February 4, 2022
- at the winter #Olympics #OpeningCeremony #BeingHimachali❤
|#Beijing2022 | #HimachalPradesh❤ | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/swLnQMtKZh
Who Is Arif Khan?
Born in Kashmir's Baramulla district, Arif Khan had decided to take up skiing quite early, winning his first national slalom championship at just 12. Later on, he also went on to bag two gold medals in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events of the 2011 South Asian Winter Games.
Arif has also taken part in both the editions of the Khelo India Winter Games held in Jammu and Kashmir, Gulmarg.
Diplomatic Boycott Of Beijing Winter Olympics
India was the 23rd contingent to walk in during the mega ceremony at the enigmatic Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing as China embraced athletes from 84 different nations amid a diplomatic boycott by powerful countries such as Britain and the USA over its reported human rights violations under the region of Xinjiang.
India officially announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics after China fielded Qi Fabao, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) regimental commander, injured during the military face-off with Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley in 2020, as a torchbearer for the event's Torch Relay.
India stated that China's move was "regrettable" and chose to "politicise" the Olympics, reported The Hindu.
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