Havildar Nadeem Iqbal has become the first soldier from Jammu and Kashmir to qualify for 15-Kilometre Nordic Free Style skiing event at the Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi. Iqbal hails from a village in Rajouri district. An army spokesman said in Srinagar today that Iqbal is also the only one from three Services to achieve this rare distinction. He is one among three sportsmen representing the country at the highest pedestal of winter sports. Havildar Nadeem Iqbal has been a National Champion from 2009 to 2013 as well as secured first position in 1st South Asian Winter Games, Auli (Uttrakhand) in 2011. Iqbal also participated in Seventh Asian Winter Games at Almaty (Kazakhstan) the same year. He participated in Federation of International Ski (FIS) Races-2013 at Shemshak, Iran and in FIS Nordic World Skiing Championship held in Italy in 2013.