That’s how we roll

What a year for Indian skating! We've broken into the international league, set records, gone viral. How did our favourite hobby level up? Young champs tell us

- Sulogna Mehta

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.

Getting a pair of skates, wheeling around the building compound or a dead-end street - no kneepads, no helmet - was the privilege flex of the 1990s. Nearly every kid had a pair of sturdy, size-adjustable JJ Jonex. 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 precise turns) became part of school sports.

Bhagirath Kumar Dadhich, general secretary of the RSFI, says that India has more than two lakh skaters, male and female. “Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab are at the forefront.” Who knew that little wheels could get us this far? Meet the skating champs who are reinventing their wheels for India.

Anandkumar Velkumar, 22

World Speed-Skating Champion, senior category

The 1000m is one of the most unpredictable race 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.