Jammu and Kashmir topped the medals tally in the second edition of Khelo India Winter National Games, which concluded in the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in Baramulla on Tuesday.
J&K won 11 gold, 18 silver and 5 bronze medals in the five-day mega event which had been e-inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 26. More than 1,000 athletes from 27 states and union territories (UTs) had converged on the snow-bound slopes of Gulmarg during the event to compete in different sports categories.
Athletes from the Army and the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports also participated in the event. Prominent sports activities, which were the hallmark of the winter games, included snowshoe race, ice skating, ice hockey, skiing, Nordic ski, snowboarding, ski mountaineering, ice stock.
The event was organised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the J&K Sports Council and the Winter Games Association of J&K. J&K Secretary Sports Council, Nuzhat Gul said after the successful completion of the second edition of Khelo India Winter National Games, the third edition will also be held in Gulmarg.
“After the success and appreciative role played by Jammu and Kashmir Sports Council in organising the second edition of Khelo India Winter National Games here, the third edition of Khelo India has also been allotted to J&K Sports Council,” she said.
Khelo India is a national sports development programme launched by the Center with an aim to revive the sports culture in the country at the grass-roots level, thereby, turning India into a sporting nation.
Gulmarg had received good snowfall this winter and the weather conditions remained supportive for the mega event.