KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — Malaysia’s national alpine skier Aruwin Salehhuddin has emerged as one of Asia’s standout performers at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, but she knows that excelling on the slopes goes beyond speed—it demands mental resilience.
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — Malaysia’s national alpine skier Aruwin Salehhuddin has emerged as one of Asia’s standout performers at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, but she knows that excelling on the slopes goes beyond speed—it demands mental resilience.
The 22-year-old says mastering future courses, including the French Alps 2030 edition, will require strengthening her mindset. “I definitely need to work more on my mental strength. I felt an improvement before the giant slalom, but I needed to carry that confidence into the slalom, and it didn’t go exactly as I hoped,” she told Bernama.
Aruwin finished 44th in the women’s slalom at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre with a combined time of 1 minute 54.82 seconds. She climbed from 54th place in the first run (55.09s) to 44th in the second run (59.73s), marking a significant improvement over her 2022 Beijing debut, where she failed to complete the same event.
Her performance also made her the second-best Asian skier in the event, behind Piera Hudson of the United Arab Emirates, who finished 39th with 1:49.67s.
Aruwin had earlier struggled in her first event at Milano Cortina, failing to finish the women’s giant slalom. Yet, overcoming the slalom challenges gave her a sense of redemption. “I had a few close calls and mistakes in both runs, and I’m proud I fought to the finish. Of course, I would have loved cleaner, faster runs. After the first run, I felt disappointed, but completing the second run was a huge relief. I’m happy to secure 44th for Malaysia,” she said.
Beyond mental fortitude, Aruwin is focused on refining her technical skills to tackle increasingly complex courses in the future. She also enjoyed competing at the iconic Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, describing the slopes as a dream despite challenging snow conditions.
“Tofane was fun for the slalom, though the snow was tougher for the second run. The giant slalom slope was a dream, even though I only made it halfway—I would have loved to ski more,” she said.
The Tofane venue, which also hosted alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics, spans 2,560 metres with a vertical drop of 750m, earning it a reputation as one of the world’s most legendary ski runs.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which began on Feb 6, concluded officially on Feb 22. — Bernama
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