Leh (Ladakh), Jan 24: Two southern states – Telangana and Karnataka – stole the honours when a pair of speed skating gold medals were decided on Day 2 of the Khelo India Winter Games 2025 here on Saturday.
Telangana’s 15-year-old Nayana Sri Talluri won the first gold medal of KIWG 2025 and completed a ‘hattrick’ when she sped to the women’s 500m short track gold at the NDS Stadium. Nayana, who had won the same medal in the under-17 category last year, was an emphatic winner, clocking 1:01.35 seconds, leaving in her wake the skaters from Karnataka and Maharashtra. She has won in KIWG 2023 in Gulmarg.
Unlike KIWG 2024, where there were two skating categories – under-17 and 17 years-plus – the skating competition this time is an open one. With several top Indian skaters away in Korea and China to train for the Asian Winter Games in February, this year will see some of the best junior skaters in the country.
Nayana is one of them. She had won two gold medals in KIWG 2024 and then went on to win a 3000m women’s relay gold at the 2024 Asian Open Short Track Speed Skating championship in Jakarta in August. She has been building on her exposure and experience. “(In Jakarta), there were participants from different countries, which is great, but playing in our own country feels entirely different. This year, I’m back on the ice for the first time, and it’s a nostalgic feeling to be back in Ladakh. It’s been a hat-trick of golds for me since I won in Gulmarg in 2023. I feel super great about it,” Nayana said.
Khelo India Winter Games are not only about winning medals. It’s about gaining experience and setting higher bench marks. Although he did not win the gold medal in Leh, it was quite a feeling for Guru Harshan H of Tamil Nadu to finish second in his first long track Khelo India Winter Games race. The 14-year Harshan finished behind Karnataka’s Harshith K, who won the second skating gold medal of the day at Gupuks Pond. Sachin Singh of Haryana finished third. Taking part in a long track race in an atmosphere he is not used to, Harshan’s performance was definitely affected by Ladakh’s thin air. “I could not give my best,” said Harshan, catching his breath. He added that the Gupuk surface was difficult to manage as he was used to skating on artificial ice.
In 2019, Harshan bagged a bronze in the under-10 category Open event organised by Ice Skating Association of India. Harshan also participated in the third Khelo India Winter Games at Gulmarg in short track speed skating in 2023. For KIWG 2025, Guru joined a week-long camp in Gulmarg, sponsored by the Tamil Nadu government. The ice-hockey competition is also turning out to be learning curve for teams like Haryana, Maharashtra, Chandigarh and Rajasthan. The top teams like Army, ITBP and Ladakh have so far had a smooth sailing in the competition.
