That’s how we roll: Meet the skating champs setting new records for India
What a year for Indian skating! We’ve broken into the international league, won gold, set new records, gone viral for our moves.
In September this year, at the far fringes of Indian sport, something exciting was happening for the first time. On the 15th, Anandkumar Velkumar, a 22-year-old athlete from Chennai, won India its first-ever gold at the Speed Skating World Championships in Beidaihe, China. He clocked just over one minute and 24 seconds in the senior men’s 1000m sprint. That same day, 18-year-old Krish Sharma from Delhi won gold in the Junior category of the same race, rolling in at one minute and 22 seconds. Then, five days later, Velkumar won gold again, in the 42km skating marathon of the championship. And just like that, India had, for the first time, three top global honours in competitive skating.
It’s a win 147 years in the making. Maharaja Rajinder Singh set up the first indoor rink in Patiala in 1878. By 1902, Maharaja Ganga Singh and Lord Curzon had inaugurated an outdoor rink in Bikaner. The Roller-Skating Federation of India was set up as early as 1955 and is the governing body for the sport. And, as ’90s kids will remember, getting a pair of skates, wheeling around the building compound or a dead-end street – no kneepads, no helmet – was the ultimate privilege flex of the era. There was no Decathlon. But nearly every kid had a pair of sturdy, size-adjustable JJ Jonex.
Skating didn’t fall out of favour as the millennium turned. It merely got swallowed up in the juggernaut of activities that became available to kids. In smaller cities, where there were bigger rinks, dedicated inclined tracks, fewer distractions, the sport quietly thrived. Inline skating (in which the wheels under each foot are set one behind the other, allowing for more precise turns) became part of school curriculums and fitness regimens.
Bhagirath Kumar Dadhich, general secretary of the RSFI, says that India has more than two lakh skaters, male and female, about 50,000 of whom are registered with the federation. “Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab are at the forefront.” Skating coach Rahul Kaush adds that in the last 10-15 years, there have been back-to-back domestic competitions and more international exposure for top talent. Who knew that little wheels could get us this far? Meet the skating champs who are reinventing their wheels for India.
Anandkumar Velkumar, 22World Speed-Skating Champion, senior category
The 1000m is one of the most unpredictable races in speed-skating. It’s not a short 100m or 200m burst. It’s not a 10,000m endurance test. It’s just enough distance to showcase an athlete’s energy, balance, speed and strategy. At the top tier, it’s all over in under two minutes.
So, for Chennai’s Velkumar, every second mattered at September’s Speed Skating World Championships. He’d been conserving his energy in the initial phase. But those last laps were when he sped forward, gliding past seven competitors for gold. “I’d just won bronze in the 500m sprint,” he recalls. “It gave me the confidence for this race.”
He had other reserves too. Between 2021-2025, Velkumar won some 10 international accolades, including a gold and two silver in the Asian Championship. Sathya Moorthy, who has been training him since age 12, describes him as a smooth, versatile skater. “But in the last year, his performance has jumped from 70% to 90%.”
Velkumar knows why: “I’m competitive, and per the thrill of inline speed-skating to more artistic disciplines,” he says. He also practises for four hours every day – reserving Sunday for rest – and does strength training, conditioning and cycling. “Skaters need strong quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings,” he says. “They can’t afford any excess fat.”
The computer-science student, who only took to the sport at age six after seeing his sister, Subi Suvetha, try it, says he loves being on wheels. “It’s an adrenaline rush. It charges me up but also gives me a sense of freedom.”
But for the most part, Indian skating means constantly pushing against the odds. The field is dominated by South Korea, Colombia, and Italy – where promising young skaters get specialised coaching in dedicated arenas. Meanwhile, “the Indian team pays from their own pockets when they compete internationally. I got financial support and reimbursement from the Tamil Nadu government after returning with medals.” His next target: Winning the World Championship in Paraguay in 2026.
Krish Sharma, 18World Champion, junior category
Sharma began roller skating at age four and switched to inline speed-skating in 2019 for competitions. Neither has been easy. “I used to travel 20km from my home in Delhi, five days a week, to my training centre,” he recalls. His mother, Kavita Sharma, and his coach, Rahul Kaush, have been his constants.
Apart from gold at the World Championship in September, Sharma also won gold at the Asian Championship, in Seoul, South Korea, in July, and picked up two silver medals in the European Cup in Spain last year.
India is proud of him. But life might actually have got tougher and lonelier for Sharma. “I’m no longer in the junior category and I’m training even farther away from home in Mohali,” he says. The city has some of the country’s best tracks. But training is intense, he’s also pursuing a BSc in Sports Science, and hostel life is isolating. “Coaches here are stricter about discipline and diet,” he says. “I’ve given up much of my social and family life for skating. I had very few friends who were also skaters. I don’t know my own city properly. I miss family gatherings, trips and hangouts with friends. Few people talk about what it takes to really dream big in this sport.”
Shreyasi Joshi (21) & Swarali Joshi (17)Inline Freestyle Slalom champs
When the Joshi sisters enter the skating arena, all eyes are on them. Their skills aren’t honed for speed, but synchrony and grace. The moves are almost ballet-like: Rolling zig-zag through a row of cones, turning sharp corners like they got a free pass from gravity, manoeuvring through obstacles without tipping over.
But freestyle slalom skating is anything but easy. It’s easier to fall and injure oneself when trying out a new artistic move. “And the skating surface at each venue is different – wood, cement, wax-layered or ceramic flooring all affect how precisely you can speed up, swivel or stop,” says Shreyasi. “At international competitions, we don’t always know what the surface will be until we reach the venue. So, we carry different pairs of skates. And it’s always a risk.”
Shreyasi, a 10-time national champion, is the first Indian woman to win two golds at the Asian Championships in July. Swarali is a nine-time national freestyle skating champion and has five international medals. Their software-engineer father was also a roller-skater, while their grandmother was a state-level table-tennis player. Naturally the Pune sisters started early, skating at age three, when most kids couldn’t tell their left shoe from right. They practise between three to six hours every day and fangirl over Spanish slalom skater Pau Bosch.
But they’re also using Instagram (@_Skater_Sisters) to connect with the world. Their handle has nearly 230K followers and features Reels of their work and the BTS. Most posts are filled with cheers, and young skaters who look up to them for inspiration.
Visibility has far-reaching powers. “The number of women in national championships, has increased manifold; women are no longer limited to amateur skating,” says Shreyasi, who’s also pursuing a degree in Computer-Science. “Women are especially interested in slalom and artistic skating.”
Poorvi Matte, 18Silver in Asian Championship, July 2025
As a child, Matte suffered bouts of asthma. So, her parents enrolled her in swimming and skating classes to strengthen her lungs. She never thought of competing until her sports teacher in Pune encouraged her to join a professional club. That, and the family’s move to Bengaluru in 2017, boosted her confidence.
“Bengaluru is the hub for speed-skating; it has international-standard tracks and good coaches. So, when I joined a club there, I felt seriously motivated to train for tournaments rather than skating for fun and fitness.”
She did get over the asthma. And while girls her age chill with friends at multiplexes, restaurants and amusement parks, Matte obsesses over speed, endurance and execution. “Micro-seconds matter in speed skating,” she says. Alongside she’s also studying to be an orthopaedic doctor.
Matte’s favourite speed-skater is Ivonne Nochez from El Salvador. There are more young women to look up to in the sport now, she says and many more young girls who willingly spend their formative years practising intensely to become pro skaters. The sport, however, needs to put in a little more effort. “Currently, we have to manage our own sponsors. We need government support for international competitions.”
Dhanush Babu, 30Bronze and Silver in Asian Speed-Skating Championship
India’s fastest inline speed-skater, Babu won bronze and silver at the Asian Speed-Skating Championship this year. His personal best speed: 17.59 seconds at a 200m time trial event at the Asian Championship. He was conferred the Karnataka Government’s Kreeda Ratna Award in 2018, a rare feat for a skater. He’s also the Indian skater with the highest number of gold medals, 34, in national events.
“I first tried skating on my fourth birthday,” he recalls. “Dad used to train me. I would practice for five-six hours every day.” He grew up watching Italian skater Gregory Duggento and Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake beating their own best times and knew that patience and effort pays off.
He’s seen the sport evolve over the decades. For many in his generation, skating was merely a hobby. “Now kids have a competitive spirit right at the outset,” he says. “Even parents realise that sports can be a career. And unlike a team sport, performance is entirely down to their child’s skills and training.” None of the younger athletes has broken his records yet. Babu is still the fastest in the 100m and 200m time trials. “Breaking a record is not so easy,” he says as he prepares for the Euro Cup circuit and the next Asian Championship.
Pick your wheels
Sathya Moorthy, who has coached world champions such as Anandkumar, says those starting in out in skating have more options to specialise in than before. “Speed-Skating is the most popular and competitive. It helps develop balance and speed. In freestyle slalom (in which skaters navigate a zigzag course), it’s a test of artistic movement, tricks and creativity. In roller derby (played between two teams), teamwork and coordination matter.”