Indian Olympic Skiers Finally Get New Skis - India Real Time - WSJ
Indian Olympic Skiers Finally Get New Skis
By Atish Patel and Aditi Malhotra
Rigved Ghia
Cross country skiier Nadeem Iqbal while training for the Winter Olympics in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir.
With under two weeks to go until the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, the Indian government Monday announced it had approved funds to allow two Indian qualifiers to buy the skis and other equipment they need to compete.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports allocated 1.05 million rupees ($16,700) – just over 80,000 rupees more than requested by the Winter Games Federation of India - for alpine skier Himanshu Thakur and cross country skier Nadeem Iqbal, who are both preparing for their first Olympics.
A third Indian competitor, Shiva Keshavan, who will be taking part in his fifth Olympics as a luger, is already fully funded by the government and sponsors.
Lack of funding for non-cricketing athletes is a problem in India. Indian athletes don’t enjoy much financial or institutional support. Although this is improving, thanks to growing public investment and non-profit initiatives like the Olympic Gold Quest and the Mittal Champions Trust, it is in no way comparable to the kind of backing athletes enjoy in top-ranked Olympic countries such as China and the U.S.
India’s Sports Ministry said earlier this month it would cover other expenses for all three competitors, including flights and clothing for the opening and closing ceremonies but it said it was still considering whether or not to fund vital equipment for competing such as skis and ski boots.
Delays in releasing the funds meant the athletes feared they would not get the equipment in time to train with it before the competition begins and faced having to pull out altogether.
The late funding boost, although welcomed, still gives them little time to get comfortable with their new Olympic-standard gear.
“It would have been great if they had cleared the funds earlier,” said Mr. Iqbal in a telephone interview Monday from the northern state of Kashmir, where he is currently training. ”But better late than never,” he added.
Mr. Iqbal, an Indian Army soldier who was inspired to take up cross-country skiing by Bahadur Gurung, another Indian soldier-turned-Olympian, said it was important as a competitive skier to invest in good gear, which as well as skis includes boots, gloves and eyewear.
“The better the equipment, the better the timing, the better my ranking,” the 30-year-old said.
The Indian government blamed the funding delay on the WGFI for failing to apply at least 90 days ahead of the start of the Sochi Games, which begin in the Russian city on Feb. 7. The sports ministry said it received the request in late December.
But WGFI secretary general Roshan Lal Thakur told The Wall Street Journal that athletes had to qualify for the Games before they could apply for state funds for them.
“We were trying to qualify our athletes abroad, so we were busy. When our athletes qualified, then we submitted our budget. Without qualifying, how can we submit our budget?” Mr. Thakur said.
The Indian athletes will compete in Sochi as independent participants rather than under the Indian flag because the country’s Olympic committee is suspended for violating the Olympic Charter.
“Our flag is not going with us. This is bad, but we have no choice,” said Himanshu Thakur, 19, who is based in Manali, the town perched in the Himalayas in northern India.
Courtesy of Winter Games Federation of India.
Alpine skiier Himanshu Thakur while training for the Winter Olympics in Manali.
The teenager, who took part in his first Alpine World Ski Championships in Austria last year, where he used borrowed equipment to participate in the giant slalom competition, failed to finish his first run during qualification.
His event – alpine skiing, which involves skiing around flags or markers – has a longer history of Indian participation than any other winter sport. Fifty years ago in Innsbruck, Austria, alpine skier Jeremy Bujakowski, a Poland-born Indian citizen, became the first person ever to represent India at the Winter Olympics.
India, which has never won a Winter Olympic medal, is sending the same number of athletes to Sochi as it did to the Vancouver Games four years ago. In comparison, the U.S. is sending a 230-member team to Russia, the biggest delegation of any country in Winter Games history.
Mr. Thakur from the WGFI said Monday that a preliminary order for new equipment, which will be purchased from Austria and Italy, has already been made, adding that it will take at least five days to be delivered to India.
Both skiers will leave for Russia on Feb. 4.
Atish Patel is a multimedia journalist based in New Delhi. Follow Aditi and him on Twitter @A4iti and @atishpatel.
Follow India Real Time on Twitter @WSJIndia.
Indian Olympic Skiers Finally Get New Skis
By Atish Patel and Aditi Malhotra
Rigved Ghia
Cross country skiier Nadeem Iqbal while training for the Winter Olympics in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir.
With under two weeks to go until the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, the Indian government Monday announced it had approved funds to allow two Indian qualifiers to buy the skis and other equipment they need to compete.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports allocated 1.05 million rupees ($16,700) – just over 80,000 rupees more than requested by the Winter Games Federation of India - for alpine skier Himanshu Thakur and cross country skier Nadeem Iqbal, who are both preparing for their first Olympics.
A third Indian competitor, Shiva Keshavan, who will be taking part in his fifth Olympics as a luger, is already fully funded by the government and sponsors.
Lack of funding for non-cricketing athletes is a problem in India. Indian athletes don’t enjoy much financial or institutional support. Although this is improving, thanks to growing public investment and non-profit initiatives like the Olympic Gold Quest and the Mittal Champions Trust, it is in no way comparable to the kind of backing athletes enjoy in top-ranked Olympic countries such as China and the U.S.
India’s Sports Ministry said earlier this month it would cover other expenses for all three competitors, including flights and clothing for the opening and closing ceremonies but it said it was still considering whether or not to fund vital equipment for competing such as skis and ski boots.
Delays in releasing the funds meant the athletes feared they would not get the equipment in time to train with it before the competition begins and faced having to pull out altogether.
The late funding boost, although welcomed, still gives them little time to get comfortable with their new Olympic-standard gear.
“It would have been great if they had cleared the funds earlier,” said Mr. Iqbal in a telephone interview Monday from the northern state of Kashmir, where he is currently training. ”But better late than never,” he added.
Mr. Iqbal, an Indian Army soldier who was inspired to take up cross-country skiing by Bahadur Gurung, another Indian soldier-turned-Olympian, said it was important as a competitive skier to invest in good gear, which as well as skis includes boots, gloves and eyewear.
“The better the equipment, the better the timing, the better my ranking,” the 30-year-old said.
The Indian government blamed the funding delay on the WGFI for failing to apply at least 90 days ahead of the start of the Sochi Games, which begin in the Russian city on Feb. 7. The sports ministry said it received the request in late December.
But WGFI secretary general Roshan Lal Thakur told The Wall Street Journal that athletes had to qualify for the Games before they could apply for state funds for them.
“We were trying to qualify our athletes abroad, so we were busy. When our athletes qualified, then we submitted our budget. Without qualifying, how can we submit our budget?” Mr. Thakur said.
The Indian athletes will compete in Sochi as independent participants rather than under the Indian flag because the country’s Olympic committee is suspended for violating the Olympic Charter.
“Our flag is not going with us. This is bad, but we have no choice,” said Himanshu Thakur, 19, who is based in Manali, the town perched in the Himalayas in northern India.
Courtesy of Winter Games Federation of India.
Alpine skiier Himanshu Thakur while training for the Winter Olympics in Manali.
The teenager, who took part in his first Alpine World Ski Championships in Austria last year, where he used borrowed equipment to participate in the giant slalom competition, failed to finish his first run during qualification.
His event – alpine skiing, which involves skiing around flags or markers – has a longer history of Indian participation than any other winter sport. Fifty years ago in Innsbruck, Austria, alpine skier Jeremy Bujakowski, a Poland-born Indian citizen, became the first person ever to represent India at the Winter Olympics.
India, which has never won a Winter Olympic medal, is sending the same number of athletes to Sochi as it did to the Vancouver Games four years ago. In comparison, the U.S. is sending a 230-member team to Russia, the biggest delegation of any country in Winter Games history.
Mr. Thakur from the WGFI said Monday that a preliminary order for new equipment, which will be purchased from Austria and Italy, has already been made, adding that it will take at least five days to be delivered to India.
Both skiers will leave for Russia on Feb. 4.
Atish Patel is a multimedia journalist based in New Delhi. Follow Aditi and him on Twitter @A4iti and @atishpatel.
Follow India Real Time on Twitter @WSJIndia.
