MOC approves Indian Alpine Skier Arif Khan's inclusion in TOPS 

India's Alpine skier Arif Khan has been included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core group. The Sports Ministry’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) has given permission for the inclusion of the Alpine Skier.

The TOPS scheme will be applicable for Arif until the 2022 Winter Olympics. The 31-year-old has been granted an amount of 17.46 Lakh INR under the TOPS scheme. The amount has been sanctioned for his equipment and training in Europe, ahead of the colossal event in Beijing.

The Winter Games are slated to take place between February 4 and 20, 2022 in Beijing, China.

The MOC also approved a 35 day training camp for Arif. He is currently the only Indian skier to have secured a spot at the 2022 Winter Games. Arif booked his spot for the giant slalom event in northern Montenegro in December.

Meanwhile, he also qualified for the slalom in alpine skiing. With this achievement, he became the first Indian to win direct quota spots in two different Winter Olympics events.

“Arif Khan qualified for the Beijing Winter Olympics on ski and snow board,” Indian Olympic Association Secretary General Rajeev Mehta said in a tweet.

Skier Arif Khan's achievements

Arif, who hails from the Hajibal Tanmarg area of Jammu and Kashmir, has represented India at four World Championships. He won two gold medals at the Slalom and Giant Slalom events at the 2011 South Asian Winter Games, held in Uttarakhand.

Arif has participated in almost 100 international competitions, including the South Asian Games, Asian Games and World Ski Championships.

Dignitaries from Jammu and Kashmir hailed Arif Khan's achievements. Speaking of developments in sporting infrastructure, Farooq Khan, advisor to Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, praised Arif for securing a Winter Olympics berth.

"The creation of world-class sporting infrastructure with training and coaching facilities has started showing results and more and more players are getting selected for National and International sports events," Farooq Khan said in a statement.