Winter Olympics | Arif Khan failed to finish the men's slalom competition

Alpine skier Arif Khan was India's only participant in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

India's campaign for the Winter Olympics came to a disappointing end on Wednesday after alpine skipper Arif Khan, the country's sole participant in the men's slalom competition in Beijing, recorded 'not finished'.

The 31-year-old from Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir finished 45th in the giant slalom event on Sunday, failing to finish run 1 at Beijing's Yanking National Alpine Skiing Center.

Khan, who made his debut at the Winter Olympics, will not take part in the second run of the men's slalom tournament as he failed to finish run 1.

Only 52 of the 88 starters will finish the first run and compete again in run 2.

Khan, who wore Pip No. 79, finished the first lap in 14.40 seconds and the second in 34.24 seconds. However, he failed to finish the final part.

Johannes Strolls of Austria was the fastest skier in run 1 at 53.92 seconds. Norwegian pair Henrik Christopherson (53.94 seconds) and Sebastian Foss-Slovak (53.98 seconds) finished second and third, respectively.

Khan, the first Indian to qualify for two events at the Winter Olympics, joined the giant slalom race in 2 minutes 47.24 seconds.

He finished 45th, which is now India's best performance in the men's slalom event at the Winter Olympics.

Jeremy Pujakovsky of Poland became India's first Winter Olympian, finishing 65th in Grenoble in 1968.

In the giant slalom - an alpine skiing event - an avalanche skiing as athletes pass between sets of 'gates' with two plastic poles.

A skier runs two races, and the competitor with the shortest time in both courses is considered the winner.

In slalom, the course and distance between the two adjacent gates are much smaller than the giant slalom, making it a much faster and more accurate game.

If anyone on run 1 fails to cross between the gate, it will be considered DNF (unfinished) and such player will not be able to participate in the second run.

At the Beijing Games, the giant slalom event took place on the 424m 'Ice River' course at an initial height of 1925m and an altitude of 1501m.