The Winter Olympics Begins In Turin, Does South Asia Care?
The Winter Olympics gets off to a heated start in a few hours at Turin, Italy. The Torch had to be re-routed to avoid anti-globalization protestors intent on demonstrating that snow-boarding is a local sport gone global. Be that as it may, the Games should be as exciting as a frost of cold air in a Moscow winter morning. The events themselves are thrilling – from Alpine Skiing to Figure Skating, and my favorite – the Biathlon. The enigmatic yet popular Curling is a hit mostly in Canada. Luge’s greatest player, Georg Hackl will retire after these games, and fans of this supine-sledding event will mourn his departure. In the 2002 Salt Lake Games, Germany topped the table, with the United States and Norway trailing. This year’s tally is yet to be started, and hopes run high in participating nations. Does South Asia care? The only nations from the region participating in the Winter Olympics are India, Pakistan and Nepal. India has never won a Winter Olympic medal and sent only one athlete
