Aarathy takes a crash course to skating medal

Aarathy Kasturi Raj can't remember the number of times she has crashed and hurt herself in the skating rink. In May, she needed multiple stitches on the forehead after a fall in training. A month later, she escaped injury during the trials. All those mishaps were only minor hurdles on the way to win an Asian Games medal.

- Avishek Roy

 

On Monday, the Indian team of Aarathy, Karthika Jagadeeswaran and Heeral Sadhu won bronze in women's speed skating 300m relay (4:34.861), finishing behind Chinese Taipei and Korea. The men's team (Anandkumar Velkumar, Siddhant Rahul Kamble and Vikram Rajendra) added a second bronze in the event.

For Aarathy, 29, it has been a roller-coaster journey that has culminated in a medal in her second Games.

"I have been skating since I was just seven. Speed fascinated me. It's really fast," says Aarathy.

"Our parents wanted us to do some sport. My younger sister played squash. I took up tennis, swimming, and then for some reason I was attracted to this sport. Within three months of joining, I won medals at club level. That's how my journey started," says Aarathy, who is a doctor.

Injuries, a constant companion in the sport, never rattled her.