She has already defied the odds in a country fixated on cricket rather than the slopes to win India’s first international skiing medal — but Aanchal Thakur insists she is just getting started.
The 21-year-old dreams of following her older brother Himanshu to compete in the Winter Olympics.
She credits Himanshu with inspiring her to dedicate herself to what remains a highly niche sport.
Aanchal made Indian sporting history when she won a bronze medal last week at the Ejder 3200 Cup slalom in Turkey, but did not amass enough points to qualify for next month’s Pyeongchang Games in South Korea. But she is determined to make the cut for the 2022 edition in China.
Himanshu, 24, India’s top male skier, made his Olympic debut at the 2014 Sochi Games and races on Saturday in Iran as he bids to compete in Pyeongchang.
“Now he is so close to the Olympic Games. He was pushing me also. I will make sure that I will be there with him in 2022,” said Aanchal, who was India’s national ski champion in 2014 and 2017.
“There is no rivalry, I must say, because he is always helping me (with) technique, always supporting me, motivating me.”
Her success in Turkey promises to dramatically raise the profile of skiing in India. Skiing badly needs greater recognition to take off in India. Neha Ahuja, who competed in Turin in 2006, remains the only woman ever to have represented the vast country at a Winter Olympics.
Aanchal comes from a ski-crazy family in the northern Indian hill town of Manali and her father, Roshan Thakur, is secretary of the Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI).
Aanchal sometimes trains in the Solang Valley in the Himalayas but long struggled to gain enough daily runs to be competitive in international skiing. She only goes to India’s main ski centres of Auli and Gulmarg for national championships.
But she insists if she can climb to the summit, then others can follow.