KIWG 2026 champion Gauri Rai urges better facilities to meet global norms

Leh, Jan 22:  Seventeen-year-old Gauri Rai from Haryana had a terrific outing at the first leg of the 2026 Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) at Leh’s Nawang Dorjan Stobdan Stadium (NDS), where she won gold in the advanced figure skating category. For the first time in KIWG's history, figure skating was included, and Gauri, who lives in Gurugram, etched her name in the annals with a solid performance.

Like many, Gauri was a roller skater to begin with. But in 2017, she witnessed a figure skating event at the Ambience Mall in Gurugram, which changed the direction of her journey.

“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 the Ambience 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,” Gauri, who in India colours also won a silver in the United Arab Emirates Figure Skating Championship in Dubai in 2022, said.

But if truth be told, Gauri was not expecting to finish at the top. If not for a piece of luck, the colour of her medal could have been different. She explains: “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,” Gauri said.

“But my mother was always confident that I will 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,” Gauri, who has also competed in South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, and Bulgaria, added.

Gauri, who studies at Manav Rachna International School in Gurugram, also thanked the Khelo India initiative for organising ‘such a fantastic event’. “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. Apart from these facilities, we got great accommodation, food and transport. Thanks to the media coverage too, that of DD Sports and others. It is a new sport in India and we need the media to take it out to more and more people in the country,” she said.

Finally, Gauri said that figure skating is on the up in India, but there is still a lot of scope for improvement. “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 is now looking to do well in an International Skating Union Seminar (in March or April), which conducts tests to decide whether or not a player is ready for international competitions.

--IANS