Out in the cold, lone Indian qualifier crowdfunds Milano-Cortina dream

NEW DELHI :Posters bearing the words "Don't stop when you are tired. Stop when you are done", "It always seems impossible until it's done" and "Hard work beats talent" adorn Arif Khan's modest room in the southern Indian town of Vijayanagar.

The 35-year-old Alpine skier needs these regular doses of motivation for he has very little else to lean on six months out from his second appearance in the slalom at the Winter Olympics.

Since not enough states participate, winter sports bodies in India do not enjoy the National Sports Federation (NSF) status that would entitle them to regular government funding.

Khan launched a crowdfunding appeal to finance his preparations for Milano-Cortina but has so far raised less than 4 per cent of his target of seven million Indian rupees ($80,158).

"It's not going so well at the moment," Khan told Reuters in a Zoom interview from the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), a high-performance centre run by the Mumbai-based JSW multinational conglomerate.

"I'm not asking for a huge sum. Providing this amount to an athlete representing a great country on the world stage - it's doable.

"I would have been on the snow right now instead of continuing my physical preparations here, if I had the funds."

The IIS has agreed to take care of the core needs of the lone Indian to qualify to compete at the 2026 Winter Games, but it is not enough.

The Indian Olympic Association did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on whether it plans to help finance Khan's preparation.

The icy indifference from officialdom is not new to Khan, who nearly quit the sport after running out of money in his bid to qualify for the 2018 Olympics.

"I thought enough is enough. There's no proper system or help from the