Neha’s last bid for Nagano Winter Games

TOKYO, December 24: With only 45 days to go before the Nagano Olympics, 16-year-old Neha Ahuja of Delhi is making a last-minute bid to compete in the winter sports carnival. Ahuja, yet to fulfill the requirements set by the International Ski Federation (FIS) to compete in the Winter Games, is in Japan to take part in three official alpine races which would determine her fate, reports Kyodo.

She faces an uphill task as no Indian skier is ranked in the top 500 and the best point total — in which a lower number means a higher rank — is held by a male skier with 206. Ahuja has 338 points.

Neha, who started skiing as four-year-old in Kashmir where her father was the head of a Ski school, sent a fax to FIS, which has granted her an extension from November to the end of this month to fulfill the requirements. Meanwhile, eight mentally disabled athletes will participate in the Olympic torch relay for the Winter Games, adding a new chapter to the Games’ endeavour to help in a social cause.