Olympian Arif Mohammad Khan Urges Winter Sports Infrastructure in Gulmarg

Right after the Ghana MP took the stage to urge the government to redistribute its funds to sports infrastructure instead of fan trip sponsorship, our esteemed athlete Arif also took to the media to raise the need for winter sports infrastructure in Gulmarg.

Having won the Winter Olympics twice, our star alpine skier Arif Mohammad Khan requested the union minister of youth affairs and sports to build winter sports infrastructure along the snow-covered slopes of Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir to elevate India's standing on the podium of winter sports and international competitions.Arif held a position of honor in the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics held in Italy, as he stood 39th in the men's slalom, thereby jumping India's position by a good 10 places.

The athlete appealed for a sustainable infrastructure to support an entire 5-month training and competition season of winter sports on the Kangdoori slopes of Gulmarg.Highlighting the significance of his demand, he also mentioned the center's 6th Khelo India winter games initiative having been hosted in Gulmarg for 6 times since its commencement in 2020. The center's push had successfully widened athlete exposure in the area but still lacked a concrete infrastructural base to back it. Apart from these, he also proposed quality coaching centers, funding, and year-round training facilities, which are scarce in the area.

Even Milano Cortina has announced the building of winter sports architecture to respect the legacy of the Olympics. Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had announced for the Khelo India initiative to be extended to a 15-day affair, along with a suggestion from CM Omar Abdullah to bring artificial snow generation technology to sustain the events of winter sports all year long.