Athletes to utilise opportunity -Dr Mansukh Mandaviya

More than 1000 men and women, including athletes, coaches and technical officials, will take part in the Ladakh leg of the 2026 Khelo India Winter Games starting in Leh on Tuesday. The Nawang Dorjan Stobdan (NDS) Stadium, the Army rink and the frozen Gupukh’s Pond will be centres of attraction till the Games end on January 26. The opening ceremony of KIWG 2026 will take place Tuesday afternoon.

Four hundred and seventy-two athletes will take part in two ice sports – skating and hockey. The new attraction this year has been the introduction of figure skating, an Olympic event. In the Ladakh leg of KIWG last year, the hosts ended on top of the medal tally with four gold medals out of 13 at stake. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra finished second and third.

The first leg of Khelo India Winter Games 2026 is organised by the Youth Services and Sports department of the Union Territory of Ladakh under the supervision of the Sports Authority of India. The technical expertise for the conduct of the Games are provided by the national sports promotional bodies/federations managing ice sports.

KIWG 2026 is the second event this year in the Khelo India calendar. The first event was the Khelo India Beach Games held in Diu from January 5-10. For all athletes and their support staff, the Leh Games will see how athletes perform under challenging high altitude climatic conditions like minus degree temperature and low oxygen.(updated on 19th january 2026)