Last updated:
At the Khelo India Winter Games, Urmila Pable of Mumbai won the bronze medal at the Women’s Snow Boarding Slolm event in Gulmarg while Preeti Thakur of Himachal captured the gold medal.
Khelo India Winter Games: Urmila Pable (right), Preeti Thakur (left)
Highlights
- Khelo India Winter Games untouched stories
- Tales of struggle behind the gleaming medal
- Second phase in Gulmarg from 9-12 March
Anshul Talmale, Gulmarg: You will not see snow anywhere in the City of Dreams Mumbai. There is no question of snowfall. But 21-year-old Urmila Pable, who lives in this city, situated on the banks of the sea, shocked everyone by winning the medal at the Women’s Women’s Snow Boarding Slolm event of Khelo India Winter Games held in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir. A similar story is of Preeti Thakur of Himachal Pradesh. Who won the gold medal in this event. But their struggle is slightly different. 23 -year -old Preeti was born in Manali and has been watching snow since childhood, but the condition of the house is not such that he can buy expensive equipment for herself.
Preity Thakur, who held a snow board for the first time at the age of 20, had to dream for the first time, but the condition of the house was not such that she could buy this expensive sports equipment, so she tried her hand on Snow Board. However, it takes one and a half lakh rupees to buy a fine racing snow board. The soft board will come up to 50-60 thousand. Goggle-Helmet-Glavs, Ni Protector, White Proof Geors have to be ordered from abroad. Due to lack of demand in India, it is not easily found here.
Preeti Thakur, a gold medalist at the Women’s Snow Boarding Slolm event,
Preeti’s parents, studying in a college in Kullu, set up a small shop. The elder sister got married. Family income rests on tourists. In a special conversation with News18, Preeti told that if there was money, she too would go to training abroad. They had some more good equipment. However, he did not forget to praise the Sports Authority of India. Getting a big stage from an event like Khelo India Games and getting encouragement from the government also confessed. Preeti says that her game also improved with these games.
Preeti Thakur, a gold medalist at the Women’s Snow Boarding Slolm event,
On the other hand, Urmila Pable of Maharashtra won the bronze medal in just 17-18 days of training. This Mumbai girl has represented India in the 2023 Olympic qualification. Many national and international events won. When there was a lack of good players in the Maharashtra team, the coach asked them to prepare for snow boarding. He got the benefit of skate boarding experience in snow boarding. Urmila’s mother, who studies mass communication from Gurunanak Khalsa College, is a single mother. Which are also related to social service. The elder brother is a professional footballer.
Bronze medalist Urmila Pavle of Women’s Snow Boarding Slolm event
In a special conversation with News18, Urmila says, ‘She got the benefit of skate boarding experience in snow boarding. Both have to make a balance, which I had an old experience, so I was able to win the medal in less than three weeks of training. However, it is also slightly different from the snow board because it has to climb the mountain and go up. But if you have confidence, then you will do everything. Here the legs tremble, physical strength, mental strength along with cold challenge. This medal has been received only through hard work.
Bronze medalist Urmila Pavle of Women’s Snow Boarding Slolm event
Khelo India is the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With this, not only the young talent is coming out, but they are also getting a better stage. In addition to traditional games like cricket, football, hockey, sports like Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing, Ski Mountaineering and Snowboarding will not only be able to bring variety in our talent pool but will also promote sports tourism. Let me tell you that this was the fifth edition of Khelo India Winter Games, which was completed in two stages. The first stage ran in Ladakh from 23 to 27 January while the second started on March 9 in Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir and ended on 12th. The army was at the first position with a total of 18 medals, including seven gold.