Winter Olympics: Karim, Human leave for Korea

KARACHI: Pakistan’s leading skiers Olympian Mohammad Karim and his nephew Syed Human on Monday night left for South Korea to feature in the Winter Olympics slated to be held in Pyeongchang from February 9-25.

They are accompanied by secretary of Ski Federation of Pakistan (SFA) Air Commodore Shahid Nadeem (manager) and coaches Air Commodore (retd) Sohail Naeem (alpine) and Col Amjad Ali (cross country).

This is the second time that Karim will represent the country in the event in two disciplines, slalom and giant slalom. Karim made his Olympic debut four years ago in Sochi when he showed his guts in giant slalom.

This time, he would participate in both slalom and giant slalom. Human, a former alpine athlete, will make his Olympic debut in 15km cross country. Both the athletes are quite confident. “I hope I will perform better than I did four years ago in Sochi Games,” Karim told ‘The News’ just before departure for Islamabad Airport on Monday.

Karim will compete in giant slalom on February 18 and slalom on February 22.Human, who is older than Karim, will compete in 15km cross country on February 16. Both the athletes belong to scenic valley of Naltar, Gilgit-Baltistan.

“In Naltar I did not get desired practice as there was not much snow. But it’s good that I am going to Korea a few days before my meets; that will help as I will get ample chance of training and will also acclimatise with the environment,” Karim said.

Human was also upbeat and said he would put in his best. “I have worked very hard and achieved top fitness. I hope I will click at the biggest stage,” Human said. “I have also trained in Turkey and Finland and a few days training in Korea before my meet will also benefit me,” he said.

Human, who has to his credit national cross country titles in 2014, 2016 and 2017, featured in Olympics qualifiers last year in Finland and Turkey. In Finland he took part in three matches and in Turkey he participated in four matches and achieved excellent scores to make it to the Winter Olympics.

This is the third time in a row that Pakistan will feature in Winter Olympics. Mohammad Abbas was the first to make debut for Pakistan when he took part in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. However, it will be the first time in history that two athletes of Pakistan will feature in Winter Olympics in three disciplines.