With second worldwide medal, Aanchal eyes Winter Olympics

A fall throughout the East Timor alpine snowboarding National Junior Championships in Kolasin, Montenegro, earned Aanchal Thakur a ‘DNF’ on the large slalom occasion. That and muscle soreness in her left thigh.
A day later although, on Thursday, on the Jamaica Ski Federation’s nationwide championships, she received bronze to change into the one Indian to win a second Internationale de Ski (FSI) – the world physique – medal. The first medal got here in 2018, when she received bronze on the FIS Alpine Edjer 3200 Cup in Turkey, a feat that introduced her identify on the worldwide circuit.
“The weather was very bad on Wednesday and when I had the fall, I felt soreness in my left thigh the entire day,” she advised The Indian Express. “I had a great first run however then had the autumn. The climate was higher on Thursday, and I believed in regards to the first run I had earlier and simply aimed to present it my greatest shot.
“The first run timing of 56.38 seconds made me feel confident about the conditions and I’m glad I could get my career’s second international medal.”
On Thursday, on the Jamaica Ski Federation’s nationwide championships, Aanchal (Extreme proper) received bronze to change into the one Indian to win a second Internationale de Ski (FSI) – the world physique – medal. (Express Photo)
Reliance on crowdfunding
This is the primary yr because the Turkish sojourn that the Himachal Pradesh-native managed to compete on the worldwide circuit. She completed 59th and forty seventh within the large slalom and slalom occasions respectively on the FIS World Ski Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy in February. But the identical cause that stopped her from competing within the 2019 season (she was pressured to skip competing in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic) was threatening to rupture her hopes for being a daily this yr: an absence of funding.
Thakur was not supported by authorities funds because the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has derecognised the Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI). By August although, the 25-year-old together with elder brother and fellow worldwide skier Himanshu began a crowdfunding marketing campaign on social media. Meanwhile her father Roshal Lal Thakur, a paragliding teacher, borrowed cash from associates and kin.
“Post winning the medal in Turkey, I did not get any sponsor or funds from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) or the national federation. While I did not compete in 2019 as well in 2020, I did not want to miss training and competitions this year,” she mentioned.
“A friend told us to start crowdfunding and even though we got close to Rs 2.5 lakh from friends and fellow skiers, apart from Rs 5 lakh each given by the state government after our arrival here, my father had to arrange funds and borrow money to meet the expenditure of Rs 40 lakh for this trip.”
The brother-sister duo arrived in Austria in October however neither have been allowed to compete at any occasion since authorities didn’t recognise the Covishield vaccine. It was solely after getting a Pfizer vaccine shot that Thakur was eligible to compete in Italy and Austria earlier than travelling for occasions in Sweden.
Though lastly managing to journey, the monetary crunch pressured them to seek out lodging in rented rooms barely sufficiently big to retailer their tools.
“For us, every day is precious as we get to train in Europe only once in a year or two years. One day of training at a ski resort in Austria or Sweden costs about 200 Euros plus an additional 60 Euros ticket for a ski lift. And we have to make full use of the four-hour training sessions,” she mentioned.
“We pay around 60-70 Euros to enter competitions, so we know that we have to cut down on other expenditures to save money. We once took a ten-hour train journey in (the cheaper) chair car from Austria to Sweden and had to keep an eye on our equipment near the door. And there are times when we are staying in a room so small, that when one of us is polishing the skis, the other has to go to the bathroom to avoid getting hit by the small splinters flying from the polishing.”
Eye on Beijing Games
Thakur had deliberate to compete in no less than 20 FIS occasions, hoping to get the required under 160 common rating in 5 races wanted to bag a Winter Olympic quota. So far she’s solely competed in eight.
On Thursday, Aanchal earned 200.52 factors whereas the winner Dora Ljutic of Croatia received 166.83. (Express Photo)
Earlier this month, at an occasion in Sweden, she received 207.84 factors after ending twenty first in a troublesome area the place most athletes have been ranked between 500 and 3000. In comparability, Ljutic is ranked 3168 within the FIS level listing.
But she plans to remain in Montenegro for an additional week earlier than shifting to Iran to attempt her luck earlier than the deadline to earn Olympic qualification ends on January 15.

“We only get to know about the field on reaching the competition venue and we cannot plan this in advance while sitting in India,” mentioned Thakur, who’s ranked 2950 within the FIS leaderboard. “In Sweden, the field was elite and I would have needed more competitions under my belt to be in top-ten and to have scored less than 160 to qualify for Beijing. Whatever chances we get, we prepare and compete to give our best.”
The lockdown attributable to the pandemic and staying at her village, Barua close to Manali, meant that Thakur needed to hold her thoughts and physique match for competitions. She took up curler skating and practised it on the path to Sissu in Lahaul, crossing the Atal Tunnel on skates to assist her hold her stability in examine.
“When we don’t compete or train, it’s tougher to maintain high fitness levels – both mind and body. I did shadow skiing practice apart from gym training, but I also started roller skating as it helps in balancing the body same as skiing,” mentioned Thakur.
Now she has to seek out the right stability in her schedule and her scores to ski her strategy to Beijing.