Army made a grand start in Gulmarg under Khelo India Winter Games. Won 3 out of 5 gold medals on the first day on Monday (23 February). CRPF and Himachal Pradesh also won gold medals. At the same time, old stars like Karnataka’s Bhavani Thekkada Nanjunda and Himachal Pradesh’s Aanchal Thakur were left behind by those skiers who are doing well in the national circuit.
17-year-old Jiya Aryan, one of India’s rising talents in alpine skiing from Karnataka, won a bronze medal in her second Khelo India Winter Games. Jiya was competing against seniors like Aanchal and Sandhya Thakur, who had represented India in the Asian Winter Games held in Harbin, China last February. Himachal Pradesh’s Sandhya defeated Aanchal in a tight race on the Kongduri slope.
CRPF’s Kajal won gold
It was an emotional day for CRPF’s Kajal Rai, who won gold in the women’s 15km Nordic skiing (cross-country) at the Gulmarg Golf Course. Kajal left hot-favourite Bhavani behind with the bronze medal with a brilliant finish. Meghalaya-born Kajal dedicated her gold medal to her father, who passed away in February last year. Renu Danu of CRPF won the silver medal. Bhavani has won a hat-trick of gold medals in KIWG 2025.
Army’s Sunny Singh won the first gold medal of the day in men’s sprint in Nordic skiing. Sunny has been regularly winning medals for the Army at KIWGs and on Monday, the skier from Kathua, who trains at the High Altitude Warfare School, Gulmarg, led the Army 1-2-3 in the opening event before the inauguration ceremony at the golf course.
What did Manoj Sinha say?
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said this edition of the Khelo India Winter Games has been like a “relay race” as the Winter Olympics ended in Italy on Sunday and the KIWG events began in Gulmarg on Monday. He said, “These Games are a classic example of national integration and show the power of creativity through sports.
Sinha said, “Our athletes can take inspiration from Olympic legends like American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin and Indian athletes like Olympians Arif Khan (of J&K) and Aanchal Thakur (of Himachal Pradesh). This edition is coming after the Winter Olympics and is a great platform to showcase technical skills in difficult natural conditions.” He further said that KIWG was a test of courage and character. Shiffrin is a three-time Olympic gold medalist.
It has been very hot in Gulmarg this week. Due to strong sunlight and melting snow, CM Omar Abdullah had to come up with the idea of making artificial snow.
Omar Abdullah said, “Gulmarg’s livelihood is related to snow and tourism. We cannot deny climate change and we have to think about creating such an infrastructure where we are not completely dependent on natural snow.
Day 1 Results (All Finals)
nordic skiing
Men (Sprint, 1.5 km): Sunny Singh (Army) 3:06.83 sec, Shubham Parihar (Army) 3:07.35 sec, Manjeet (Army) 3:08.73 sec
Women (15 km): Kajal Kumari Rai (CRPF) 52:08.29 Renu Danu (CRPF) 53:10.81 Bhavani Thekkada Nanjunda (Karnataka) 53:20.44
snowboarding
(Men- Slalom): Vivek Rana (Army) 01.01.439 Kulwinder Sharma (Army) 01.02.854 Vikar Ahmed Lone (J&K) 01.03.174
alpine giant slalom
(Men): Mayank Panwar (Army) 01.06.479 Baqir Hussain (Army) 01.07.194 Devendra Gurung (Army) 01.09.473
Women): Sandhya Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) 01.23.285 Aanchal Thakur (HP) 01.23.985 Jiya Aryan (Karnataka) 01.31.064
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