Khelo India Winter Games, Day 2: Aanchal Thakur Wins Giant Slalom Gold

India’s well-known alpine skier Aanchal Thakur did not disappoint on Day 2 of the Khelo India Winter Games 2024 in Gulmarg on Thursday, February 22. The 27-year-old from Himachal Pradesh, who in 2018 became the first Indian woman to win an international ski medal, won the giant slalom gold at the Koongdoori course. (More Sports News)

It was a Himachal Pradesh one-two-three in this event, with Aanchal winning with a timing of 00:56.339 seconds. Tunaja Thakur and Promila Thakur won silver and bronze, respectively.

Karnataka continued to lead the medal tally with eight gold medals while Army climbed to third and Uttarakhand struck their first pair of gold medals in these Games.

The skiers at Koongdoori were cheered on by Union minister of state for youth affairs and sports, Nishit Pramanik. The minister flagged off the women’s skiing event as a Gulmarg got a fresh coat of snow overnight. Menka Gunjiyal of Uttarakhand won the gold in ski mountaineering with Shazia Hassan of J&K winning silver and Kaamya Kathikeyan of Maharashtra clinching bronze.

It was a double whammy for Uttarakhand on Thursday. In mountaineering skiing for men, which was flagged off by six-time Olympian Shiva Keshavan at Kangdoori, Mayank Dimiri of Uttarakhand sprinted to the gold while Shahid Ahmad Chachi and Mehraj Ud Din Bhat from J&K won silver and bronze, respectively.

Mayank celebrated his win, saying it was “a lot of hard work” and the “vertical slopes in Gulmarg were ideal for skiing and the gradient of the slopes were perfect for snow sports.”

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In the Nordic sprint for men at the Golf Club course, Army made a clean sweep of the 1.6km race where 36 players participated. Manjeet got the gold while Padma Namgail secured silver and Rameez Ahmad Padder bagged bronze. For all three Armymen, it was their second individual medals in this year’s Khelo India Winter Games.

In the same event for women over a distance of 5km, Bhavani Thekeda Nanjunda of Karnataka struck gold. Sapna and Prince Kumari, representing ITBP, received silver and bronze, respectively. It was the second gold for Bhavani, who had won the 1.6km gold on Day 1 on Wednesday.