M'sia's alpine trailblazer: Aruwin's Olympic journey against the cold

MALAYSIANSKINI | For 22-year-old alpine skier Aruwin Salehhuddin, every descent down the slopes carries more than the promise of speed and glory - it carries the weight of her family’s sacrifice to reach the Olympic dream.

Aruwin is Malaysia’s first woman Winter Olympian and the youngest athlete the country has ever fielded at the Winter Games, having made her debut at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.

The Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will mark her second consecutive appearance, once again representing Malaysia in alpine skiing, a rare feat for an athlete from a tropical nation.

While the world sees the glam and glitz of the Olympic Village, her journey to the top has been shaped by long drives, missed classes, and financial investments that have turned an elite sporting career into a daily reckoning.

However, long before skiing became a professional pursuit, Aruwin recounted how her childhood was defined by small rituals that would quietly shape a life on snow.

Her earliest memories on the slopes date back to when she was two years old - gliding through the snow at a Canadian ski resort six hours away from her home in Washington State.

Sports enthusiast parents

“My parents were really into sports. My mom was a marathon runner. While my dad was an Olympic kayaker. And because they were so hands-on, I grew up playing five to six different sports.

“They also really enjoyed going on vacation. So, they got me started skiing in Canada when I was just two years old.

“I started racing when I was six-years-old because I just didn't want to stop,” she recounted during an interview with Malaysiakini.

By the cusp of her ninth birthday, Aruwin put words to an ambition that would come to define her life - to aim for the Olympics.

“I think my whole childhood was really surrounded by my dream of wanting to go to the Olympics.

“I would wake up at five o'clock in the morning every day to be at the rink before everyone else. And I was on the slopes over Friday, Saturday, Sunday, skiing - and then back in school (by Monday),” she added.

Aruwin’s family would eventually relocate to Colorado, US, by the time she turned 12, so the budding alpine skier could professionally train at world-renowned facilities offered in the southwestern US state.

The following year marked her international debut under the Malaysian flag, as turning 13 made her eligible to compete on the global alpine skiing circuit.

The cost of chasing snow

However, snowy slopes were not the only steep hills the young skier would have to overcome.

Funding an athletic career would prove to be financially taxing, especially when the costs are borne out of pocket without aid or sponsorships.

Aruwin estimated that her family has invested close to half a million ringgit in her alpine skiing career, with much of the cost borne by her mother, who devotes more than half of her monthly paycheque to supporting her daughter’s pursuit.

Watching her mother work tirelessly to cover the mounting expenses, Aruwin said, admittedly tugs at her heartstrings.

The pressure came to a head during her recent trip to South Korea, where she cried after her performances fell short of her own expectations amid a fiercely competitive field.

“So, you know, I really want to be able to do my best because I always feel like it's such a great sacrifice that my family has made for me to be here.

“I was telling my coach (the other day) that I feel a lot of pressure because I am one of the poorest there. And my mom works the hardest for me. So, I need to show results,” said a teary-eyed Aruwin.

Additionally, being the only Malaysian skier in a sport dominated by athletes from Western nations does come with its own set of challenges.

While she has formed strong friendships and made valuable connections in the international circuit, Aruwin admitted that she has been subjected to peering eyes and dismissive comments at times.

“Sometimes I hear comments like, ‘You cannot let the Malaysian girl come closer to you. You can't let the Malaysian girl do better than you because she skis for Malaysia’.

“But from my perspective, I work just as hard as you. Do not put it on my country that I shouldn't be better than you. It should just be between competitors; that you want to beat me, and I want to beat you.

“I do think that is more of a sportsmanship problem than anything else,” she said.

‘Hot milk tea’

Nevertheless, Aruwin declared that she is not one to easily succumb under pressure, constantly reminding herself that one bad result does not diminish her improvements for the season.

Yet, her Olympic campaign has not been without small, hard-earned joys. While competing at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, moments of celebration became some of her most cherished memories of the season.

Racing in biting conditions that plunged to nearly minus 30 degrees Celsius, Aruwin and her teammates developed a ritual of warming up with hot milk tea between runs.

When she recorded three new personal bests in the slalom, her friends marked the achievement by surprising her with a large cup in triumph, a simple but meaningful reward amid intense pressure.

Technical art of the slopes

At the Winter Olympics, alpine skiing is considered one of its marquee events. The sport is divided into speed and technical disciplines, with events including Downhill, Super-G, Slalom, and Giant Slalom.

Aruwin competes in alpine skiing’s technical disciplines - slalom and giant slalom - steering clear of the speed events, noting that she lacks the physical mass and specialised endurance required for the speed disciplines.

Despite being the more technical event of the two, Aruwin likened slalom to a “dance”, describing the course as tight and rhythmic, with closely spaced gates that demand skiers punch them with their fists while sliding sharply downhill.

Giant slalom, by contrast, offers more room to breathe, the skier said.

“Giant slalom, in its own way, is so fulfilling when you ski it well, because of the speeds that you get up to.

“And when you ski a good course, it just feels like you're flying, and I think that's the best part,” she said, adding that she holds no preference for one over the other.

This season, Aruwin stands as Malaysia’s sole representative at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. She is scheduled to compete in the Giant Slalom on Feb 15, followed by the slalom on Feb 18.

Benchmark of progress

Coming into her second Winter Olympics, she returns to the Games with sharper expectations, viewing Milano-Cortina not just as another appearance, but as a benchmark of progress.

Making her Olympic debut at 17, Aruwin was one of the youngest athletes in the game. Now 22, she hopes the stage could be a measure of how far she has come from the teenager she once was.

The opening ceremony, however, may prove just as significant as race day, as Aruwin will also serve as the country’s flag bearer - a role she anticipates will be another proud and emotional moment in her career.

“I honestly don't think that it would have really hit me until I'm walking out on, um, in the stadium, because that's exactly what happened to me on the last Olympics.

“When I walked out carrying the flag with (fellow Malaysian alpine skier Jeffrey Webb), I remember just seeing the stadium and all the bright lights, and the colours, and the Olympic symbol, and the flag waving up a bit ahead.

“And, you know, that was just the most incredible feeling ever,” Aruwin reminisced.

Ambitions beyond the finish line

Beyond her own performance, Aruwin hopes her presence can broaden perceptions of what is possible for athletes from tropical countries, wishing greater visibility for winter sports in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia.

If her journey encourages even one young Malaysian to pursue an unconventional dream, whether in sport, the arts or academics, she considers that a victory in itself.

“My journey has been a rough one; I had a lot of ups and downs. As many other athletes have gone through this sort of hardship.

“And we all have some very inspiring stories to tell. And that, on its own, I really hope is encouraging people all around the world to motivate them to go and chase what they want to do.”

Still, the Olympics are not the final summit. Her long-term ambition stretches further up the mountain: to become the first Southeast Asian woman to compete full-time on the World Cup circuit - the ultimate event in alpine skiing.

For Aruwin, the finish line is never the end, only another starting point on a path to reaching greater heights.

MALAYSIANSKINI is a series on Malaysians you should know.

Robbed of dreams, ex-convict sets academic record behind bars

Mum's gambit: Autistic boy gains confidence through street chess

From Africa to Asia, 'adventure rider' Anita revs around the world

From go-karts to F1 dreams: Sophia Zara is the future of racing

'444km at 44': A runner’s birthday oath

106 countries on two wheels: A retiree’s goal to combat climate change

'We don't need more heroes, just courage' - Sabah activists

From wreckage to gold: Sivasangari's transformative trek in pro-squash

From make-believe spaceships to trailblazing M'sia's space trajectory

Blind environmentalist lives out passion to protect nature

PAC chair with the most probes, aiming for accountable politics