As racing season begins, mid-day catches up with India’s first international alpine skiing medallist Thakur, 29, while she trains on the French Alps with an eye on 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy
India’s alpine skiier Aanchal Thakur. Pics/Aanchal Thakur’s Instagram
While December is holiday season for the Europeans and skiing as a sport, for Aanchal Thakur, India’s first international alpine skiing medallist, who won a bronze medal in the 2018 alpine Ejder 3200 Cup in Turkey, a bronze at the 2021 FIS Alpine Ski Competition held at Kolasin, Montenegro, and four silver medals at the UAE Alpine Slalom Championships held at Dubai in 2022, it’s hard work on Europe’s slopes.
For more than a month, Thakur has been training on the slopes of France, Italy and Austria, preparing for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina, Italy — also called the Milano Cortina 2026. Thakur is currently practising on the slopes of Tignes here in France, ahead of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) race season that begins later this month. The 29-year-old, who is just about five feet tall, divides her time between slopes in winter, glaciers in summer when in Europe, and dry training in India before she hits the Alpine slopes again.
Started at the age of five
The young Olympian began skiing on skis made from walnut wood at the age of five in her village Solang in Manali. “My father gifted me a pair of ‘real’ skis when I was seven and my passion for skiing has grown ever since,” says Thakur. Her routine involves four hours of skiing in the morning, lunch and sleep, then weight training, running, and endurance training.
For Thakur, the first international event at the age of 13, when she participated in the Asian Children’s Championship in Lebanon, was a hard-hitting one. “I was shocked by the advanced levels there — the coaching, technical expertise, physiotherapy for skiers, etc,” says Thakur. “I realised that I have to push harder to achieve my dreams.”
Sheer passion to perform
Then came the 2011 New Zealand Games. “The skis were 175-cm long and I was used to 165-cm. It was freezing cold, our eyebrows froze and even if a strand of hair came out of the helmet, it would be covered with ice,” recollects Thakur. What she missed by way of coaching and infrastructure, she made up for it through sheer passion and hard work. “We have our own hills, ice, snow and skis which are all the best teachers,” says Thakur, who pushed herself for two years. “When I qualified for the Youth Winter Olympics in Innsbruck [in 2012] at the age of 15, I was proud to represent my country,” she says.
After that there was no looking back. Thakur was selected for the World Championship in 2013, 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2025; she is all set for the Olympic Winter Games next year.
Five
No. of Alpine Ski World Championships Aanchal Thakur has participated in
Six
No. of International Ski & Snowboard Fed (FIS) medals (2 bronze, 4 silver) she has won
13
Aanchal Thakur’s age when she participated in her first international event — the Asian Children’s Championship in Lebanon
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