CRPF constable wins big with 3 medals

Gulmarg, Feb 26: The 26-year-old Renu Danu knew snow only as a distant spectacle for most of her life. For her it was something that belonged to cinema screens and glossy photographs.

Growing up in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, winters meant biting winds and fog-laden mornings, never the endless white expanse that defines Gulmarg.

When she saw real snowfall for the first time at 24, she did not rush to touch it. She simply stood still, watching the flakes descend, as if reassuring herself that this was not another illusion.

Two years later, Renu stood on the podium at the Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG)- 2026 in Gulmarg with three silver medals glinting against her CRPF uniform.

The constable had achieved what once seemed impossible. She was conquering not just the snow-covered slopes but also the doubt that shadows anyone who begins from scratch at an age when most athletes are already in their prime.

“My story did not begin on ski tracks or in winter sports academies. It began on the dusty grounds of Haldwani, where I ran races and played kabaddi without knowing that I was building the endurance that would one day carry me across frozen valleys,” she said.

Her father Danu Ram earns a living driving trucks while her mother manages the household.

“My brother serves in the Air Force while another one runs a small business,” she said.

In 2021 she joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) as a Constable (General Duty). What began as a search for financial security quietly transformed into a gateway to an entirely new life.

After her posting to Srinagar in 2024, Renu found herself in a landscape she had only imagined.

With barely a month of training, she competed in her first major event—the Khelo India Winter Games 2024. She neither won nor threatened the podium. But she finished.

“That time I was new. I did not know the techniques, but I completed the races,” she said.

For most athletes, finishing is routine but for Renu, it was defiance.

The following year marked visible progress. At the 2025 edition, she finished fourth in a Nordic event before securing silver in the Ski Mountaineering Relay.

The same year, she clinched gold at the National Winter Biathlon Championship in Gulmarg, signaling her arrival as a serious contender.

Her breakthrough, however, came this year at KIWG-2026 after she scripted a remarkable hat-trick of silver medals in the women’s Nordic 15-km, the Nordic 1.5-km Sprint, and the Ski Mountaineering Relay.

“It felt surreal to stand on the podium with three silver medals,” she said.

She said that her transformation was shaped by rigorous training at the Army’s High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS).

She learned the finer nuances of Nordic skiing under the guidance of Olympian coach Nadeem Iqbal.

Within the CRPF, coach K. Shukla and team manager Magesh K provided technical support and belief in her to succeed.

“When she came, she knew nothing about winter sports,” said her coach, Shukla.

“But she outperformed everyone. Her future is bright. I can see her competing at the World Championships, even the Olympics,” he said.

Back home in Haldwani, her family tracks her journey with pride, even if winter sports remain unfamiliar terrain.

“My family understands only cricket, football and volleyball,” Renu shared with a laughter.

She said that nordic skiing and ski mountaineering was new to her family.

“But they understand my dedication and watch videos of my races and try to make sense of it all. My family is my biggest strength,” she said.