Army tops medal tally on Day 2 of Khelo India games
The Army surged to the top of the medal standings on Tuesday after clinching its fourth gold medal on the second day of the Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) 2026 in Gulmarg.
The Games are being hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council. The second leg of KIWG 2026 is being held from February 23 to 26, with around 800 participants, including more than 340 athletes, competing across various disciplines.
Five more medals were decided on Day 2. The highlight was Nordic skier Kajal Kumari Rai of the CRPF, who won her second consecutive gold medal of the competition. A total of 10 gold medals have been decided in the Gulmarg leg so far.
The Army added one gold to its three overnight medals to take its tally to five. It had earlier won the men’s ice hockey gold in the Ladakh leg of KIWG 2026.
Haryana continued in second position with four gold medals, all won by its skaters in Leh, while Maharashtra is just one gold behind. Kamiyaa Karthikeyan secured Maharashtra’s first gold in Gulmarg in the ski mountaineering (vertical) event on the Kongdoori slopes.
An Alpine skier from Himachal Pradesh claimed her first gold of KIWG 2026 in the giant slalom, winning comfortably with a time of 48.984 seconds. Her state-mate Tanuja Thakur took silver, while Karnataka’s Jiah Aryan once again finished among the medal winners.
Army skier Padma Namgail led a one-two-three finish for the Army in the men’s 10 km Nordic race at the Gulmarg Golf Course. The dominance was complete, with Army athletes occupying the first nine positions. Sunny Singh, who had won the Nordic sprint gold on Monday and was the defending champion, finished sixth.
