Inspiration - Aanchal Thakur: Meet 21-year-old Himachal girl who won India’s first international medal in skiing!

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

Aanchal Thakur born 28th August 1996, hails from Burua, a small village in Manali. She learned the ropes from her father. Later, Heera Lal, a former Olympian, honed her skills.

Being from a region that's covered by snow throughout, she eventually developed a keen interest in Winter Sports. Skiing, in particular, fascinated her, as it involves gliding through the snow at high speed. She started visiting skiing centers developed for tourists at an early age of 9. Since the game is not very popular in India, finding the potential sponsors was a big deal. Either Anchal's father or FIS financed her entire journey. Her father also complains about how the Central provides no support.

Her father, who is also the secretary-general of the Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI), saw her progressing rapidly with her skills, and thought that it was best to introduce her to some professional coaches. Soon Aanchal began with her professional outing.

She eventually represented India at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics held at Innsbruck and also participated in the Alpine skiing – Girl's Slalom and also Girl's Giant Slalom events. Since then, Aanchal's growth has been exponential even though she did not have many resources.

Hailing from the small but picturesque hill station of Manali, Anchal Thakur etched her name in history by winning Bronze at the prestigious Alpine Ejder 3200 Cup organized by the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) — skiing's international governing body — at the Palandoken Ski Centre in Erzurum in Turkey and became the first Indian to achieve an international medal in skiing. Aanchal was challenging in the slalom race grouping/category.

Narendra Modi too appreciated her win
"Well done @alleaanchal for winning an international medal in skiing! The entire nation is ecstatic on your historic accomplishment at the FIS International Skiing Competition in Turkey. Wishing you the very best for your future endeavors," tweeted Modi.

"Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success".
Aanchal has set an example for all the enthusiastic players who would do anything for the sport they love. We as players should not lose hope just for the reason that capital distribution is not fair. Instead, we should brace ourselves and never stop working hard towards our goals.

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