Pakistani athletes shine at Special Olympics World Winter Games, win several medals

By
Irfan Aftab
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Pakistani athletes shine at Special Olympics World Winter Games, win several medals
Sabahat Tariq and Huzaifa Qazi won gold

KARACHI: Pakistani athletes put up a brilliant performance in the Special Olympics World Winter Games 2017 being held in Austria, with several winning gold, silver and bronze.

Sabahat Tariq bagged gold in snowshoeing in the 100 meters category, while Huzaifa Qazi finished top in 200 meters and won silver in the 100 meters category. Mehwish Tufail will bring home two bronze medals won in the Cross Country Skiing 100 meters and 50 meters categories.

Mehwish Tufail wins Silver
Mehwish Tufail wins silver

The games are taking place in three venues, Graz, Ramsau and Schladming. The competition comprises a total of nine sports, with 107 countries participating.

The Pakistani delegation includes 12 athletes, four coaches, two delegation staff and a media person.        

               

Other Pakistani athletes who won silver and bronze include Tehmeena, Osama Aziz, Muhammad Abdullah Tahir, Pervez Ahmed, Fatima Amir, Muhammad Hamza Aslam, Pervez Ahmed, Farah Ehsan, Fatima Amir.

The athletes trained in five training camps since 2015 and hail from Sindh, Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan. Training for skiing and snowshoeing took place in Naltar and Kalabagh and fitness camps were held in Karachi and Lahore. The athletes were coached by a brilliant team comprising Shumaila Erum, Irfan Anwar, Amina Baig and Zahid Farooq.

Moreover, three athletes hailing from Punjab have been sponsored by the government of Punjab.

 

Edited by Sindhu Abassi