Slopes, not conflict on minds of military Olympians (News Feature)

By David Hein Feb 24, 2010, 0:42 GMT

Whistler, Canada - Arch rivalry between India and Pakistan, who have gone to war three times since partition in 1947, often spills over into sport and particularly onto the fields of cricket.

But on the slopes of Whistler Tuesday, politics was the last thing on the minds of Indian Army member Jamyang Namgial and Muhammad Abbas of the Pakistani Air Force.

Both are alpine skiers at the 2010 Olympics and were more worried about completing both their runs of the men's giant slalom.

'It's very nice with all the people making noise. It's really fun competing with world class athletes. It's a very good opportunity for me to participate,' said Namgial.

No matter that the Indian skier ranked last of the 89 first run finishers with a time of 1 minute 46.77 seconds - 29.50 seconds behind leader Carlo Janka of Switzerland.

The 24-year-old Namgial, who is currently 4,814th on the FIS ranking of giant slalom skiers, was then one of 81 skiers to complete the second run to finish the race last - 57.09 seconds behind gold medallist Janka.

A native of Leh in the Kashmir mountain region, Namgial has only been skiing for seven years. His biggest advancements have come in the past two years when he trained in Austria and Italy.

'It was a big advantage for me. In Europe the skiing level is very high. That's why we train in Austria and Italy,' he said.

Even though Kashmir gets a lot of snow, the region has no possibility of making artificial snow which means skiing conditions are poor, said Namgial who had two months of training in Austria.

'We never make snow. Only natural. Natural snow is not as hard as artificial snow. It's not as icy. Natural is too soft. That's why we train in Austria and Italy,' he said.

Besides being alpine skiers and first time Olympians from tiny Winter Games nations, Namgial and his Pakistani colleague Abbas have a number of other things in common as well.

Both have had the advantage of training in Austria in the past year. Both work in the armed forces of their nations. And both teach alpine skiing as part of their jobs

But Namgial did not wish to talk about politics on his big day Tuesday.

'I can't say anything about the Indian Army and the Pakistani Air Force. This is the Olympics,' said Namgial, who has known Abbas for two years after meeting in Turkey.

'We have never trained together. But we talk about ski training and how each other works out.'

Abbas for his part was just thrilled about competing at the 2010 Games as Pakistan's first ever Winter Olympian and flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

'I am very happy. Pakistan is in the Olympics for the first time. And I am the first for Pakistan,' said Abbas.

The 24-year-old Naltar native in the Hindu Kush mountain region raised his arms emphatically with a huge smile on his face after crossing the finishing line in the second run. His time was 3 minutes 20.58 seconds - two places ahead of Namgial and 42.75 seconds behind Janka.

'My goal is not to win a medal but just to finish the race,' Abbas said before the start, which was his first of 2010.

Abbas, who began skiing as an 8-year-old with wooden skis, is currently ranked 3,839th in the world in giant slalom.

'We don't really have many resources, no real training. I have only trained eight weeks in the last two years,' said Abbas.

Eight weeks have proven enough for Abbas to complete two runs on the Dave Murray giant slalom piste - and complete an Olympic dream, just like his Indian counterpart Jamyang Namgial.