Pak skier finishes 72nd in Olympics

KARACHI: Pakistani skier Mohammad Karim finished at the 72nd spot in the giant slalom event of the Winter Olympics at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Sunday.

Karim, featuring for the second time in Olympics, recorded a time of 1:27.53 in the first run and 1:26.51 in the second run to wrap-up the journey with 2:54.04 minutes. He will now feature in slalom on Thursday. Marcel Hirscher of Austria won gold with a total of 2:18.04, which includes 1:08.27 in the first run and 1:09.77 in the second run.

Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway followed with the silver with aggregate time of 2:19.31 (1:09.58, 1:09.73. Alexis Pinturault of France ended with a bronze clocking an aggregate time of 2:19.35 (1:08.90, 1:10.45).

Of the total 110 competitors, only 75 finished the race, 31 did not finish, three athletes were disqualified and one did not start. Sailing Federation of Pakistan (SFAS) secretary Air Commodore Shahid Nadeem was satisfied with the performance of Karim. “Yes, I am happy,” Shahid told The News. The other Pakistani skier and nephew of Karim Syed Human has already competed in 15 kilometre cross country event on February 16.

This is the first time that a couple of Pakistani skiers from Naltar valley of Gilgit Baltistan are featuring in the world’s most prestigious competitions in three disciplines. Mohammad Abbas was the first alpine athlete who represented Pakistan in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.