Kajal Rai claims second straight Nordic title

Army climbs to top after dominant day in Gulmarg

Excelsior Sports Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 24: The Army contingent moved to the top of the medal tally on Day 2 of the Khelo India Winter Games 2026 after adding another gold in the Gulmarg leg today, taking their overall tally to five gold medals and consolidating their position at the summit.
Army, who had won the men’s ice hockey gold in the Ladakh leg, began the day with three golds from Gulmarg and added one more to stay ahead in the standings.
A total of five finals were decided today, taking the number of gold medals awarded in the Gulmarg leg to 10 so far.
Haryana continued to hold second place in the overall standings with four gold medals, all coming from skating events in Leh.
Maharashtra, however, closed the gap after opening their gold account in Gulmarg and now trail closely behind.
The highlight of the day was CRPF’s Kajal Kumari Rai, who clinched her second consecutive gold medal of the competition by winning the women’s 10 km Nordic race.
Kajal clocked 32:58.76 seconds to finish comfortably ahead of the field.
Her teammate Hiral secured silver in 33:14.89 seconds, making it a one-two finish for CRPF, while Karnataka’s Bhavani Thekkada Nanjunda claimed bronze in 33:22.03 seconds.
Army asserted complete dominance in the men’s 10 km Nordic event held at the Gulmarg Golf Course. Padma Namgail led an Army sweep of the podium, winning gold in 23:18.63 seconds.
Aman Kumar followed with silver in 23:22.24 seconds and Manjeet took bronze in 23:23.94 seconds. In a remarkable display of depth, Army athletes occupied the first nine positions in the race.
Defending champion Sunny Singh, who had won the Nordic sprint gold on Monday, finished sixth.
In alpine skiing, veteran Himachal Pradesh skier Aanchal Thakur delivered under pressure to win the women’s giant slalom gold with a timing of 48.984 seconds.
Her statemate Tanuja Thakur secured silver in 51.697 seconds, while Karnataka’s Jiah Aryan continued her consistent run by finishing third in 53.790 seconds.
The ski mountaineering (vertical) events also produced new gold medallists.
In the women’s category, Kamiyaa Karthikeyan gave Maharashtra their first gold of the Gulmarg leg, topping the field with a timing of 5:26.708 seconds on the Kongdoori slopes.
Natasha Mahar of Himachal Pradesh claimed silver in 5:53.885 seconds and Sangeeta Bhatt of Uttarakhand finished third in 6:03.253 seconds.
In the men’s vertical race, Shardul Thaplial of Uttarakhand won gold in 3:56.45 seconds. Siddhartha Gadekar of Maharashtra took silver in 4:09.80 seconds, while Army’s Santosh Moktan secured bronze in 4:14.82 seconds.
With competition intensifying and more medals at stake in the coming days, the race for supremacy in the snow-bound Games is expected to grow tighter as leading contingents look to strengthen their positions in the medal tally.

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