S’pore alpine skier Faiz Basha exits early in giant slalom in Olympic debut
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Singapore's Faiz Basha competes in the first run of the men's giant slalom during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio.
PHOTO: AFP
- Singaporean alpine skier Faiz Basha recorded a Did Not Finish (DNF) in his Winter Olympics giant slalom debut on Feb 14, losing a ski.
- Faiz was content, preferring a DNF while aggressively seeking speed over skiing conservatively, despite an unexpected binding release.
- Singapore's second Winter Olympian, Faiz will next compete in the slalom event on Feb 16, where he feels more experienced and excited.
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SINGAPORE – Singaporean alpine skier Faiz Basha began his Winter Olympics campaign on Feb 14, recording a Did Not Finish (DNF) in the first run of the giant slalom event at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio, Italy.
The Olympic debutant lost his right ski as he attempted to clear a gate, preventing him from completing the first run and resulting in an early exit from the event, which started with an 81-strong field.
The giant slalom and slalom events consist of two runs, with both run times added together to decide the final standings. Only athletes who finish the first run qualify for the second.
Slalom involves skiing between poles or gates on a downhill course, with the slalom the shortest course of the disciplines with the tightest turns, while the giant slalom has looser turns and a wider distance between gates.
Seven other skiers, including Italian 2021 world championships silver medallist Luca De Aliprandini, also did not complete the first run, while there were another four DNFs in the second run.
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen clinched South America’s first gold at the Winter Olympics after taking home the giant slalom title with an aggregate time of 2min 25sec.
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt was 0.58sec behind and claimed silver, while his teammate Loic Meillard (2:26.17) rounded out the podium.
On his giant slalom race, Faiz said: “Honestly, I’m pretty content with the race today. For me, I would rather DNF skiing in search of speed, than to finish skiing conservatively, especially at an event like this.
“For the unexpected release of the (ski) binding, these things are known to happen. It happened to (Dominik) Paris and Luca, and there’s not much you can do about it.
“For me, I had an okay top section and very good middle section with almost no drifts. Coming into the final pitch, I made a mistake and got low in the line. I tried to pivot the skis to correct the line and create speed before the closing flat.”
The 23-year-old is now looking forward to his slalom event on Feb 16.
He said: “I’m more experienced in slalom, especially with quick recoveries, it’s an event where there will be far more DNFs. But for me I’m excited.”
The University of Strathclyde undergraduate is just Singapore’s second representative at the quadrennial showpiece.
Short track speed skater Cheyenne Goh was the first, when she took part in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
