Army tops Khelo India Winter Games 2024, Karnataka finish a close second

Alpine skier Bobby Pandey’s parallel slalom gold at the Kangdoori slopes made the difference on the final day of the Khelo India Winter Games 2024 in Gulmarg on Sunday. Pandey’s victory helped Army finish on top of the medal tally with 10 golds, just one more than Karnataka and three more than No. 3 Maharashtra, the table toppers at the end of the first round of the winter Games in Ladakh from February 2-5. 

In Sunday’s only other event, Mehak of Uttarkhand won the women’s version of the parallel slalom. Uttarkhand finished fifth in the medal standings with three golds. All these came in different skiing events. Spearheaded by Aanchal Thakur’s double gold, Himachal Pradesh finished No. 4 with four gold medals.

Army, which had won the ice-hockey gold in Ladakh, returned with nine golds in the Gulmarg edition of KIWG 2024. Snowboarder Kulvinder Sharma and Nordic skier Padma Namgial produced outstanding performances with two individual gold medals each for the Army team. 

Karnataka, which did well in Ladakh primarily due to their ice-skaters, competed well in Gulmarg largely due to top skier Thekkada Bhavani Nanjunda. The 28-year-old certified trainer and a mountaineer, Bhavani was the only athlete to win a hattrick of gold medals in Gulmarg.

The technical aspects of this edition of the Khelo India Winter Games 2024 was managed entirely the Sports Authority of India. Six Olympians, including Shiva Keshavan and Arif Mohammed Khan, actively took part in the conduct of the winter Games.