Seventeen-year-old Gauri Rai from Haryana enjoyed a memorable outing at the first leg of the 2026 Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) in Leh, clinching gold in the advanced figure skating category at the Nawang Dorjan Stobdan Stadium (NDS).
Figure skating made its debut at the Khelo India Winter Games this year, and Gauri, a Gurugram-based skater, became the first athlete to win gold in the discipline at the event. Her victory marked a significant milestone in her career as well as in the history of the Games.
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Gauri’s journey on ice began after years in roller skating. A chance encounter with figure skating in 2017 proved to be the turning point.
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“Roller skating, I had been doing that for a long time. But I always wanted to do something which had both speed and grace and when I witnessed a figure skating event at a shopping mall, I knew what I was going to do from there on. From quads to in-line skating to figure skating, it has been quite a journey,” said Gauri, who has also represented India and won a silver medal at the United Arab Emirates Figure Skating Championship in Dubai in 2022.
Despite her gold-medal finish, Gauri admitted she did not go into the event expecting to top the podium, with challenging conditions playing a role. “I was not confident enough. Because I was out of breath during my performance. I am not used to this altitude, so I couldn’t give my best. But my competitor Jessy Raj Mathrapu, the favourite, had a fall which led to my finishing on top,” she said.
The result, however, was met with celebrations back home. “But my mother was always confident that I would win gold. Both my parents are elated. After the results got out yesterday evening, I had a family video call. My parents were also there. A big party were they all asking for,” added Gauri, who has competed internationally in South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines and Bulgaria.
A student of Manav Rachna International School in Gurugram, Gauri credited the Khelo India initiative and the Sports Authority of India for providing a high-quality competitive platform.
“I am very thankful to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for staging such a world-class event. The ice surface here at the NDS is very smooth. It is a new sport in India and we need to take it out to more and more people in the country,” she said.
While encouraged by the progress of figure skating in India, Gauri believes infrastructure remains key to sustained growth. “Our competitors from the other parts of the world practise 16 hours a day. We need more artificial ice surfaces, Olympic-size. Right now, we have only two in the country, the other being in Dehradun. That’s the only way to produce more and more quality players.”
Gauri will next set her sights on an International Skating Union seminar, scheduled for March or April, where skaters are assessed on their readiness for international competitions.
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