p17 2.e$S_Layout 1 2/16/15 9:48 PM Page 1 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015 SPORTS Asian Winter Olympics open door to snow business BEAVER CREEK: With the next two now and organisations and that’s Asia,” top of a World Cup medal podium. and last in the giant slalom opening leg, ment, army people, some rich people Winter Olympics to be staged in Asia, FIS president Gian-Franco Kasper told The Indian ski federation sent a team over 25 seconds back of the leader but had skis, so we made skis ourselves out the International Ski Federation (FIS) will Reuters. “You see it in the financial world of five skiers to the alpine worlds in just ahead of China’s Zhang Xiaosong. of wood. “Now today they are compet- have a rare opportunity to grow snow and it is exactly the same, everything Beaver Creek, all attacking the piste with For Roshan al Thakur, the manager of ing here on world championships.” In a sports in the world’s most populous con- moves eastwards. purpose, but no amount of determina- the India ski team and whose son and small way Asia made an impression in tinent but the seeds they plant are “Of course we don’t have to be every tion could mask a lack of skill as they daughter form the backbone of the Beaver Creek. Japan’s Emi Hasegawa unlikely to bear fruit for generations to time in Asia but I think it is important for snow-ploughed their way to the bottom national squad, the results are not as dis- waved the Asia flag, finishing 18th in the come. us that we have new countries, new ski of the results sheets. appointing as they are encouraging. slalom and 28th in the giant slalom. The 2018 Winter Games set for the resorts. “In Kazakhstan the mountains In the women’s giant slalom, Varsha With a short three-month ski season Korea sent a four-man team and South Korean resort of Pyeongchang are more or less unused and this would Devi finished 96th and last, 53.53 sec- and just three resorts in India, including showed some progress with Jung Dong- and with either Almaty, Kazakhstan or be a great opportunity. “In Beijing you onds behind gold medal winner Anna one in Solang Nala in Himachal Pradesh hyun placing 25th in the slalom and Beijing to be awarded the 2022 Winter are in a newly developed ski area. We Fenninger of Austria while team mate where they train, Thakur prefers to look 40th in the giant slalom, offering hope Olympics, the ski industry will gain an don’t want all Chinese skiing, one per- Aanchal Thakur was 95th, 33.81 seconds at how far the sport has come in India of respectable showings in the alpine entry point into the sporting world’s cent would be enough. “It is a rare back as both failed to qualify for the sec- rather than how far it has to go. competition when they host the Winter most coveted market. opportunity for us.” ond leg. China produced only marginally When he was 12 years old, Thakur Games. New skiers from China and India fill- Like every sport and business, FIS better results with Xia Lina crossing 80th carved his first pair of skis out of a tree “It is three years away, but everything ing chair lifts and resorts sprinkled craves a piece of the Asian pie. India and and Qin Ziyue 89th. and now 36 years later, he stood proudly is in progress and I think we will have a across the Himalayas and seriously chal- China have snow-capped mountains In the slalom, the wooden spoon in the finish area, basking in the accom- very good ski Olympics in 2018,” Korean lenging for medals at Olympics and and billions of potential skiers, but the went to Taiwan’s Wu Meng-Chien, who plishment that his son and daughter coach Byun Jongwoo told Reuters. world championships may be a far-off Asian market remains almost untapped tip-toed his way down the mountain a represented India in a world champi- “Mostly we train at home but we have dream but for FIS, it is the future they are outside of Japan. full 63 seconds back of the leader to onship. “As the economy is growing up, one racer, Jung touring World Cup. “We pursuing today. For the moment it would be easier for place 86th. skiing is also now getting popular slow- have learned a lot here, how to make “It is important there is no question, India’s alpine ski team to scale the sum- It was similar scene for the men, ly,” Thakur told Reuters. “When I was 12 progress and we will put these methods we need new countries that have money mit of Mount Everest than climb to the India’s Himanshu Thakur crossing 70th years old skis were not available, govern- into our system.” —Reuters Late golds give US ideal boost at worlds BEAVER CREEK: After a surprisingly slow ing in the United States. start to the alpine ski world champi- onships, the United States finished with a LATE MEDALS flurry of two gold medals to captivate Apart from the gold medals won by their home fans and inspire skiers of the Shiffrin and Ligety, the U.S. earned a sil- future. While snow queen Lindsey Vonn ver, through Travis Ganong in the men’s ended a disappointing fortnight with a downhill, and bronzes, from Vonn in the solitary bronze medal, Olympic champi- women’s Super-G and Ligety in the com- on Ted Ligety won his third successive bined, during the first week of competi- giant slalom crown and rising star tion. Mikaela Shiffrin successfully defended Shaw believes the overall team per- her slalom title. formance, watched by boisterous home That gave the Americans a medal haul fans, can only inspire US skiers of the of five, capping two weeks of thrills and future. “The importance of these events spills on the slopes of Beaver Creek and to us is enormous in terms of our (young Veil that brought the sport of alpine ski- skier) pipeline,” Shaw said. “We know for ing to a much wider audience in the sure there were seminal moments in the United States. “It’s been absolutely amaz- stands during these world champi- ing... to be able to show Americans what onships. this sport is about,” U.S. Ski and “There were kids up there who said, ‘I Snowboard Association president Tiger want to be like Lindsey, Ted, Travis, BEAVER CREEK: France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange celebrates after his win in the men’s slalom competition at the Alpine skiing world champi- Shaw told reporters as the world champi- Mikaela.’ The Park City ski team came all onships. —AP onships wound down. “The penetration the way over here from Utah, a seven- and exposure that a lot of people got hour drive. All of that makes a huge dif- through TV, it captures their interest in ference.” Shaw did concede, however, our sport. And very important to us, all that the U.S. development pipeline faced Grange clinches slalom crown the people that participate in skiing in several challenges. the U.S. have been able to really see “We didn’t have five in the top 30 for BEAVER CREEK: Four years of injuries, bitter on Marcel Hirscher of Austria skied out. ing also and then he was behind me and then he what’s happening here. the women’s slalom on Saturday, fortu- struggle and doubts over his alpine skiing future “My last two (World Cup) races, in Kitzbuehel skied out,” said Grange, who had not made a “They’ve had a real inside track and nately we did in the men’s giant slalom ended in unexpected fashion for Jean-Baptiste and Schladming, I finished only in the twenties World Cup podium since placing third in been able to get to know our athletes on Friday,” he said. “I would love to have Grange as he won the men’s world slalom crown so I just couldn’t imagine winning today. Bulgaria in 2011. “It was absolutely incredible much better and see incredible things that ratio in every World Cup. on Sunday. The 30-year-old Frenchman had won “This is a wonderful gift for all this effort over and I had a really hard time to believe what hap- happen on the hill, especially with “We think that’s a possibility. We work slalom bronze at the 2007 worlds in Are, fol- four years-many injuries, bad bib numbers, no pened to me. “ Grange, who won his first World Mikaela doing so well and Ted winning.” as well as we can with what we have, for lowed by gold at the 2011 worlds in Garmisch, confidence sometimes. I feel overwhelmed.” Cup race in 2007 and claimed the overall World The worlds, back on US snow for the example, with the 17- to 23-year-olds. but his career then took a severe downturn after Grange finished 0.35 seconds ahead of sec- Cup slalom title in 2009, said he had contemplat- he suffered back problems in 2012. ond-placed German Fritz Dopfer after a storm- ed quitting the sport last month after his disap- first time since 1999, provided a much And we are making significant changes He contemplated quitting the sport on sever- ing second run down the Birds of Prey piste in pointing finishes in Kitzbuehel and Schladming. needed boost for the sport and the to ensure we have more and more up- al occasions, most recently just three weeks ago, near-blizzard conditions, his first podium finish “I was far off the winner in these two last North American ski industry, which have coming kids who are younger than 17 but that changed at Beaver Creek when he in four years.