KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — National alpine skier Aruwin Salehhuddin may have just carved her name as one of Asia’s top performers at the recently-concluded Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, but she knows that reaching the absolute summit requires more than just fast skis.
The 22-year-old believes that to truly master the slopes in future outings, including the French Alps 2030 edition in France, it demands an unbreakable mindset.
“I definitely need to work more on my mental strength. I felt that it had definitely improved before the giant slalom, but I needed to bring that confidence over to slalom, and it wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to be,” she told Bernama.
Aruwin finished 44th in the women’s slalom event at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre with a total time of one minute 54.82 seconds (s).
Her performance showed significant progression as she finished the first run in 54th place with 55.09s and moved up 10th spot in the second run (59.73s).
The result marks a redemption for Malaysia’s sole representative in Italy and managed to improve upon her 2022 Beijing debut, where she unfortunately failed to complete the same event.
Not only that, the result put Aruwin as the second-best Asian skier in the event behind Piera Hudson of the United Arab Emirates with 1:49.67s in 39th place.
Aruwin previously endured a challenging outing as she failed to complete the women’s giant slalom at the same venue, her first event at the 2026 edition.
She was also relieved to successfully bury the ghosts of her 2022 Beijing debut.
“I had a few close calls and mistakes in both runs, and I’m proud that I was able to hang on and fight to the finish. Of course, I would have loved to ski cleaner, faster runs.
“I remember being quite disappointed with my skiing after the first run, but making it down the second run was honestly a relief, and I was happy I was able to secure 44th for Malaysia (slalom),” she said.
Not only did it strengthen her mental abilities, Aruwin is also eyeing more technical manoeuvres to handle the increasingly complex courses in the future.
She also embraced the thrill of competing at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, describing the venue as a dream despite the deteriorating snow conditions that tested her endurance.
“Tofane was a fun slope to ski for the slalom, even though the snow conditions were certainly a bit tougher for the second run.
“I think the slope was an absolute dream to ski for the giant slalom, even though I only made it halfway down and I would’ve loved to ski more of it,” she said.
The venue, which previously hosted the alpine skiing events at the 1956 Winter Olympics, is considered one of the most iconic ski runs in the world, stretching 2,560 metres (m) with a vertical drop of 750m, making it both majestic and legendary.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, which kicked off Feb 6, officially drew its curtain on Feb 22. — Bernama
