Afaq, Tabassum, Shah in snowshoeing finals

Pak athletes shine in 100 metres, 400 metres relay races

Listen to article

In the 12th Special Olympics World Winter Games, Pakistan's snowshoeing athletes Muhammad Afaq, Tabassum Nasir, and Shah Galoon have qualified for the finals in the 100-meter race and the 4x100-meter relay divisioning race.

On Thursday, March 13, all 10 Pakistani athletes will be in action in cross-country skiing and snowshoeing events. In the final round of the 50-meter cross-country skiing race, Pakistan's two skiers, Rovina Qurban and Muneeb Ur Rehman, will compete for medals. Both athletes will also participate in the 100-meter final race on March 15.

In the 200-meter snowshoeing final races on Thursday, four Pakistani female athletes and three male athletes will compete, while Moazzam Iqbal will be in action in the 800-meter race. The 100-meter and relay snowshoeing races will be held on March 14, while the 400-meter race is scheduled for March 15.

Special Olympics Pakistan Chairperson Ronak Lakhani met with the Pakistani athletes and congratulated them on reaching the finals. She said that this achievement is the result of five years of hard work, and now the athletes have made it to the finals of the World Winter Games. She urged the people of Pakistan to pray for the success of these special athletes.

Meanwhile, Gonzalo Escobar from Special Olympics Chile earned the first medal of the Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025!

Gonzolo, who traveled to Turin from Santiago, Chile, competed in the Advanced Giant Slalom Snowboarding Final where he finished in first place with a time of 1:40.370, almost 4 seconds faster than his closest competitor.

The snowboarding competition began at Melezet in Bardonecchia early Tuesday, 11 March, morning with athletes taking to the slopes for warmups and quickly getting into action. Escobar competed in Divisioning earlier in the day, finishing the heat with a time of 49.160 putting him in the D01 group—the top level of the snowboarding competition for both men and women at the Turin Games.

After exiting the starting shoot, Gonzolo took off down the mountain with record speeds, making swift cuts as he maneuvered himself through the gates. As he neared the finish, Gonzolo stayed in a tucked position gaining him as much pace as he could before crossing the finish line to clinch the gold.

He was honored with his medal at an award ceremony later in the day along with the medalist from the Intermediate and Novice Giant Slalom Finals.

This is Gonzolo's first World Games experience, but not his first international competition. In 2020, he competed in the Unified X Games in Aspen, Colorado with Special Olympics and got a taste of what it feels like to compete on a world stage.