SA figure skater eyes global stage

FIVE years ago, Shiven Bodasing knew nothing about figure skating.

- WENDY JASSON DA COSTA

Today, he is preparing to take on former Olympians and world champions in the ISU Adult Figure Skating Championships in Germany.

Bodasing says he initially started figure skating as a way to decompress from the stress related to his job at the SPCA, where he served as an inspector and then manager.

"In the beginning, it was an escape from the SPCA because the job can be very draining. I think figure skating was a good balance, a little bit more self-rewarding," he says.

Three years ago, determined to see how far he could go in the sport, Bodasing packed up his life in Johannesburg and moved to Cape Town to train with his new coach, Vage Evetts.