ATTENDING the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Prime Minister Imran Khan praised the dazzling spectacle of pyrotechnics and dance presented by China. Alongside seven other ministers in the delegation sent by Pakistan to attend the event, he said the audiovisual treat at the Bird’s Nest Stadium was at a different level. The delegation travelled amid a Western boycott of China over rights concerns. But surely, Mr Khan must have been disappointed at the number of Pakistani participants at the Games. For a country blessed with three of the world’s most famous mountain ranges — a haven for skiers and snowboarders had proper infrastructure been in place — Pakistan could send just one athlete. Tropical island nations in the Caribbean — Jamaica (six), Trinidad and Tobago (two) and Puerto Rico (two) — have greater representation than Pakistan in Beijing. The representation in Beijing is one down on Pyeongchang, South Korea, four years ago. It will be the third time alpine skier Mohammad Karim will take part in a Winter Olympics, having represented the country in the 2014 Sochi Games and in 2018. He’s one of only three Winter Olympians produced by Pakistan — a dismal figure considering the country’s northern landscape.

Foreign athletes who have visited in recent times are in awe of the slopes Pakistan possesses, but little work has been done to make ski resorts. There are only two — Malam Jabba and Naltar, which has produced all three of Pakistan’s Winter Olympians ie Karim, Mohammad Abbas and Syed Human. All of them began skiing on wooden skis, with modern equipment unavailable in the far reaches of the country. Infrastructure too is non-existent in areas other than Malam Jabba and Naltar where potential talent is in abundance and where a taste for winter sports exists. There is also potential for ice hockey. Canadian High Commissioner Wendy Gilmour’s visited Hunza where she refereed a girls’ game at Altit Lake. It’s time for Pakistan to unearth that potential, otherwise its dignitaries will continue to outnumber its athletes at global events.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2022