Aanchal Thakur creates history by winning India’s first medal in an international skiing competition

Aanchal Thakur, a 21-year-old from Himachal Pradesh, created history on Tuesday when she became the first Indian to win an international medal in skiing. Aanchal clinched bronze at the Alpine Ejder 3200 Cup in Turkey.

The event is organised by the International Ski Federation (FIS) — skiing’s international governing body — at the Palandoken Ski Centre in Erzurum. Aanchal won the medal in the slalom race category

Aanchal is a resident of Burua, a small village in Manali and is the daughter of Roshan Thakur, the secretary general of the Winter Games Federation of India. She picked up the sport from her father, before working with former Olympian Heera Lal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Aanchal on Twitter, saying that the entire country was ecstatic on her “historic accomplishment”.