At the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, Indian alpine skier Arif Mohammad Khan, the 31-year-old from Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir became the first Indian athlete to earn a quota place. He is the only Indian skier to have ever qualified for both the events slalom and giant slalom.
Though the Winter Olympic games began way back in 1924, it took 40 years for India to put up its first athlete in the Winter Olympics in 1964. Apart from 2022, alpine skiers represented India at the 1964, 1968, 1988, 1992, 2006, 2010, and 2014 Winter Olympics. Being a sub-tropical country, India lacks the required infrastructure for winter sports.
Slalom and Alpine Skiing
Slalom forms part of alpine skiing, a skiing technique where the athlete has to slide down from snow-covered hills. Known as downhill skiing, alpine skiing consists of five events including, downhill, slalom, giant slalom, super-G, and combined. These events are held separately for men and women. Medals are also awarded for each event.
Simply, alpine skiing like swimming has different styles like freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and medley.
Slalom is considered to be the fastest among alpine skiing events. In Slalom, skiers have to ski down a slope which has a vertical descent of 180 m to 220 m for men and 140 m to 180 m for women. Skiers are required to pass through the gates which are usually made of two plastic poles; alternating between red and blue through an earmarked course. The minimum width of each gate is four m and maximum width is six m. The course would have between 55 and 75 gates for men and 40 and 60 gates for women. In order to find the fastest route to the final gate, the skiers usually knock down the poles and have to pass through two courses.
Based on the timings of each skier, eliminations take place after the first course. The skier with the lowest combined time across the two courses is declared as the winner.
The skis are the main equipment for slalom. They have a minimum length of 165 cm for men and 155 cm for women. The athlete use bindings to connect the boots to the skis and use crash helmet, soft ear protection, and an attached chin guard. Other equipments include skinpads, goggles, and skin tight suits to decrease air resistance.
Downhill was introduced to Winter Olympics in 1948. It is the simplest form of alpine skiing where skiers have to ski down a predetermined slope, with minimal turns and maximum speeds to reach the finish line. Skiers could reach a speed of up to 130 km/h. For this event, the vertical drop of the slope in downhill should be between 800 m and 1100 m for men and, between 450 m and 800 m for women.
Each competitor is allowed one ski down the course. The fastest to cross the line would be deemed as the winner of the competition.
Giant slalom Giant slalom, another type of alpine skiing is one of the signature competitions of Winter Olympics. It was introduced to the winter olympics in 1952 in Oslo, Norway.
In giant slalom, each competitor makes two runs and is ranked according to their cumulative times. Like downhill skiing, this also involves competitors skiing down a snow-covered mountain slope as quickly as possible. Giant slalom involves skiing down a slope and passing through gates with turns. In this event, the vertical descent for the skiers is between 250 m and 450 m for men and between 250 m and 400 m for women.
Each gate has a minimum width of four m and a maximum width of eight m. Failure to pass between any one gate in the first run deems a run as did not finish (DNF). A DNF in run 1 means that the skier would not be able to participate in the second run. Missing a gate or crashing off course in run 2 is also counted as DNF. This means that the skier would be ineligible for a ranking in the final standings.
Super-G event combines elements of the downhill, slalom, and giant slalom. Skiers have to ski down a slope similar to the downhill, which means that they achieve high speeds. They also have to pass through alternating red and blue gates like slalom. Except in a few allowed spots, skiers have to stay within the boundaries of the course. The vertical drop of the slope in super-G is between 400 m and 650 m for men and between 400 m and 600 m for women.
Alpine sking combined The super-G event was first introduced to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Canada.
Skiers make one downhill run and one slalom run in the combined alpine skiing event. The skier with the fastest aggregate time is declared the winner. Combined alpine skiing was the first event to be introduced to the Winter Olympics in 1936. After being included in 1936 and 1948, this event was taken off the Winter Olympics. It was re-introduced in 1988 and since then it has been a part of the Winter Olympics.
A mixed team event, i.e. a parallel slalom competition was added for the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was a part in 2022 Winter Olympics as well.
Difference between slalom and giant slalom Though slalom is the shorter version of the two events, it is the most technically challenging one. The gates are of smaller size and the skiers have to focus on their zigzagging techniques rather than, their speed in the event. In slalom, the technique is dependent on tension. The skiers core muscles have to remain tense while the skier is fleeing downhill. The skier has to have lesser movement and have his body streamlined to zigzag through the course.
Giant slalom, on the other hand, combines the technical aspect of slalom with the speed of downhill skiing events. The gates in giant slalom are larger in size when compared to slalom, hence the skiers could reach up to 80 km an hour speed while skiing downhill.
In slalom skiing, turns are much shorter and hence, skiers get a narrower and direct line to race on. The average slalom skier would be much closer to the gates and thus use their body to push gates out of the way. They would keep their line of racing as close to a straight line as possible. This method is called cross blocking.
In giant slalom skiing, the ‘go-to’ technique gets marginalised slightly. This is because the gates are wider apart and the number of gates is fewer. This event is faster than slalom. The average skier therefore uses their shoulder to round up the gate, rather than outside of their poles.
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