Sochi Olympics: Himanshu Thakur finishes 72nd in giant slalom, India's challenge ends

India’s Himanshu Thakur, on the left

India’s Himanshu Thakur finished a disappointing 72nd out of the 109 athletes who competed in the men’s giant slalom event at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Out of the 109 athletes, only 72 actually managed to set a completed time, which means Thakur finished last among those who finished.

With this result, India’s challenge at the Winter Olympics ends. Shiva Keshavan and Nadeem Iqbal had earlier registered 37th and 85th place finishes in the luge and cross-country skiing events respectively.

Thakur set a combined time of 3:37.55 in the two runs, which was 52.26 seconds off the pace of USA’s Ted Ligety (2:45.29), who won the gold medal.

France’s Steve Missillier, with a time of 2:45.77, and his countryman Alex Pinturault, with a time of 2:45.93, bagged the silver and bronze medals respectively.

While this was an underwhelming result for Thakur, it still was a minor miracle that he set a completed time at all, considering the obstacles he had to face to get to Sochi. The Alpine skier, who was initially registered as an independent Olympic athlete at the Games, could compete today as a representative of India after the IOC lifted the 14-month suspension it had imposed on the IOA.