KUALA LUMPUR − It was tough luck for national alpine skier Aruwin Salehhuddin in her second outing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics today.
After managing to clinch a remarkable 38th spot in the women’s giant slalom on Monday, Aruwin crashed out while descending in the women’s slalom event Run 1 at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.
The Colorado-based skier, who will turn 18 on Monday, was on track with her impressive skiing before she fell down close to the finishing line, thus failing to advance to Run 2.
Duerr Lena of Germany topped Run 1 clocking 52.17 seconds, followed by Switzerland’s Gisin Michelle (52.20s) and Hector Sara (52.29s) to progress to the second and final round as top contenders.
Aruwin, who created history as the first Malaysian woman to compete in the Winter Olympics, had recorded 1:06.13s in Run 1 in the giant slalom event on Monday to secure 46th place.
Then in Run 2 on the same day, she clocked one minute and 06.15 seconds to finish in 38th place with an overall time of 2:12.28s.
The country’s challenge in the Winter Games will be continued by another alpine skier, Jeffrey Webb, who made his Winter Olympics debut at the 2018 PyeongChang Games in South Korea, in the men’s slalom event on February 16.
Commenting on Aruwin’s performance, Malaysia’s chef-de-mission to Beijing 2022 Moira Tan thanked the skier on behalf of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and hopes to see her return stronger in the next edition.
“Aruwin has done us proud to fly the Malaysia flag high at the Winter Games. We are very sure that Aruwin will continue to work hard and have greater determination to return stronger four years later for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games,” she said on OCM’s Facebook. – Bernama, February 9, 2022
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