Exclusive: Meet Jammu and Kashmir's first winter Olympian Gul Mustafa Dev

In the National Skiing Competition held in 1986, Gul won the gold medal in ‘Giant Slalom’ and Bronze in ‘Slalom’ and a Bronze in Downhill ski style. After his flawless performance in the event, Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI) selected him for the Indian squad to participate in the first-ever Winter Asian Games which were held at Sapporo, Japan.

Gulmarg: Gul Mustufa Dev has the credit of being Jammu and Kashmir's first Winter Olympian. In 1988, Dev made Kashmir proud by participating in the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada.

During a special conversation with ETV India, he spoke in details about his journey to the Olympics and the future of skiing in the valley.

In the National Skiing Competition held in 1986, Gul won gold medal in ‘Giant Slalom’ and Bronze in ‘Slalom’ and a Bronze in Downhill ski style as well. After his flawless performance in the event, Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI) selected him for the Indian squad to participate in the first-ever Winter Asian Games which were held at Sapporo, Japan from March 01 – 08 in the same year.

Skiing and snowboarding

Recalling the thrilling experiences of the Winter Olympic Games, Gul told ETV Bharat that it was something like a dream come true for him. In 1988, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and WGFI conducted trials to select a team for 15th Winter Olympics. “I secured the first position and was selected for Olympic Games,” Gul recalled with profound nostalgia.

A resident of Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital, Srinagar, Gul said that it was for the first time India had participated in the Olympic Games and to be part of that contingent was something he is still proud of. “I still cherish those moments. I secured 68th position in this event,” Gul said.

In 2008, Indian Olympic Association and Winter Games Federation of India choose Gul Mustufa Dev to bring Winter Games’ flame from Delhi via Dehradun, Shimla and Jammu to Gulmarg. “To light, the flame for the games was even more memorable,” recalled Gul with pride and delight.

Little known things about winter Olympian Gul Mustafa Dev

Being the first and the only Olympian from the state, the state government felicitated Gul with Sheri-i-Kashmir Medal. In 2011, Gul received the ‘Olympian Award’ from Nawang Rigzin Jora, the state’s then tourism minister.

He also received an award for outstanding contribution to sports by Governor NN Vohra.

“I also got a job in Youth Services and Sports as a skiing instructor and currently I am Chief Skiing Instructor. Gul told Kashmir Life. He has also coached Indian skiing team for the 14th Junior Asian Games held at China. “Swiss and French skiing federations offered me to coach their players but I didn’t accept the lucrative offers,” he said adding that there was no dearth of talent in our state and that he wanted to groom the young talent under his guidance.

A file of skiing in Gulmarg.

On being asked about the future of skiing in Kashmir, he said, "For the young generation, skiing is not that fascinating. In our time, there were no lifts or Gondolas, we used to make our own way up. Today if I ask a kid to go for the trekking, they stress for lifts. "

"It is a little difficult to qualify for Olympics now as athletes have to earn FES points besides trials. It requires hard work, dedication. Which is very hard to find right now," he added.

Gul was a great skiing player, as well as a great teacher. Since 1993, he trained more than 12,000 boys and girls. And most of them have made it to the Jammu and Kashmir and India teams in national and international events.