Pakistan's top skier eyeing first winter Olympic medal in Beijing
Sports
Pakistani skier Muhammad Karim is eagerly waiting to participate in the coming Beijing 2022
BEIJING, (APP):Pakistani skier Muhammad Karim is eagerly waiting to participate in the coming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China and hoping to win first medal for him and the country.
Karim from Naltar, a village in Gilgit-Baltistan is the only Pakistani skier to have competed in two Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Karim, 26 is excited and looking forward to this year Olympics Games, which will put Pakistan on the international sports map.
“I want to further improve my skiing skills at the Beijing Winter Olympics and at the same time encourage Pakistani children to take up the sport,” he said in an interview with APP.
Sharing some details about his career, he said that basically, skiing in Pakistan is very expensive and hard sport because of lack of supplies and facilities as compared to Europe and other countries.
“I like to thank Pakistan Air Force for sponsoring him and providing with all facilities all the way through,” he added.
About starting skiing, he said, he started skiing from wooden skiis. “During the winter, the schools were closed and I used to go slope with my elder brother who was also in the Alpine Skii Team of Pakistan.”
In 2005, Karim got the chance to be in the Skii Team of Naltar of Pakistan Air Force and won a bronze medal there and got into the spotlight. In 2008, he got scholarship training from Austria for three months. From there he started his professional career.
“From 2010, I participated in national competitions and won a gold medal in my first competition. Afterwards, I have participated in Sochi Olympics, South Asian Games and Pyeongchang Olympics. Now I am looking forward to Beijing Olympics,” he added.
Karim has been training at different places for the last three years including NaltarSkii Resort and also in MalamJabba. This year, he also got a chance to train in Italy for three months with a Greek Coach. Later, he came back to prepare for Olympics in Pakistan.
Regarding coaches, he said that he started training with his brother. For advanced training, he took training from Greek coaches. “My brother was also the member of Pakistan Skii team and medal holder. Now he is the Head Coach.”
