Karen Chanloung, who was competing at her third consecutive Winter Olympics at the Feb 6-22 event in Italy, managed to secure qualification for the women’s 10km interval start cross-country ski event. Starting from 110th place, Karen dug deep to finish in 84th place with a time of 28 minutes 39 seconds. This ensured she was ranked as 7th best performing athlete from Asia, which she claimed exceeded her goals.
Also participating in his third consecutive Winter Olympics, Karen’s borther Mark Chanloung finished 71st in the 10+10km cross-country ski event, while registering as the 6th top-placed Asian athlete.
Finally, 17-year-old rising star Fabian Wiest, making his debut at the Winter Olympics, showed impressive form in alpine skiing. In the Giant Slalom event, Fabian finished 60th overall and 6th overall among Asian athletes, an experience that can serve as an important foundation for his future development.
The success of all three highlighted the significant progress of Thai winter sports, thanks to the strong support from the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), the National Sports Development Fund, the Olympic Committee of Thailand under Royal Patronage, and the Ski and Snowboard Association of Thailand.
The SAT and the National Sports Development Fund continuously allocate budgets for training camps and sending athletes to compete abroad, while the National Olympic Committee of Thailand is crucial in facilitating participation in sporting events, and the Ski and Snowboard Association of Thailand has an ongoing systematic strategic plan for athlete development.
The achievements of Karen, Mark and Fabien in Milan-Cortina is proof that, even though Thailand is a tropical country, Thai athletes have the potential and the strong will to stand and compete against world-class talent in the snowy environment, and are ready to achieve even greater success in the future.