Is lack of funding curbing India's ace speed skater's Olympic dream?

Shruti Kotwal holds the national record across all distances

Despite having representation at the international level, winter sports has often gone under the Indian sporting administration's radar. Even five-time Olympian Shiva Keshavan, who proved his skill at the highest echelon of his sport (luge), has failed to garner enough funds from the government.

A combination of faulty infrastructure, lack of financial assistance and dearth of recognition has seen several budding winter athletes from the country leave their respective sports. However, there are a few who have taken the risk to don the tri-colour in international events across the world.

One such athlete is India's number one women's speed skater Shruti Kotwal. The Pune-based skater has been training in Canada for the past 12 months, attempting to qualify for the Winter Olympics some day.

Her efforts bore fruit last year, when she shaved off a massive three seconds of her own National record at the Canada Speed skating trials, finishing 17th in the 500m event. Canada is considered one of the top winter Olympic nations, having topped the medals tally in the 2010 edition.

She would also go on to finish at a commendable sixth position at the 1000m event. However, the Pune-based skater's highlight performance came at the South Asian Championship, where she would go on to win all the gold medals on offer (500m, 1000m, 1500m), highlighting her progress in the sport.

India’s dream of having a speed skater at Winter Olympics

Like every other ice skater in the country, Kotwal transitioned from roller skating, due to non-availability of ice skating tracks. She said, “Roller skating had fewer opportunities and the local politics was very demotivating. Eventually, I decided to give ice skating a shot in Shimla, where there is a small ice skating rink which hosts a national camp and national competitions every year.

It was an upcoming sport and the fact that it is an Olympic sport and more globally recognised attracted me more towards it. That's how I gave ice skating a shot.”

After winning several national medals in roller skating, she finally decided to transition into ice skating, which is an Olympic sport. But, this also meant that she had to re-learn the basics and aesthetics of skating. Despite the hurdles, she would go on to become the best woman ice skater in the country.

In 2012, her talent was spotted by officials from the International Skating Union, who decided to give here a three-month scholarship in Germany. This was the first time an ice skater from the country was recognised on a global platform.

She was coached by Canadian Speed skater and multiple world champion, Jeremy Wotherspoon, who is also the world record holder in the 500m Men’s category. Wotherspoon was so impressed with Kotwal’s talent that he even gifted her a pair of ice skates for practice.

A modest Kotwal said, “I wanted to pursue further training since I was a complete beginner to this sport. I was suggested to go to Calgary in Canada as that would be the best place for any skater to learn speed skating from scratch. That is how I ended up training in Canada.”

A 12-month stint in Canada has seen her shave more six seconds across various national records set by Kotwal herself. A lonesome journey without any financial support and recognition could put India’s dream of having a speed skater at the Winter Olympics in jeopardy.

Problem in mentality when it comes to sponsorship in India: Kotwal

The cost for training in Canada was completely taken care of by her family, but money is now running short. For Kotwal to continue her surge towards the global elite, funds need to be gathered. She said, “I have faced huge issues when it comes to funding. I have tried my best to find private sponsors as well. But the mentality in India is to only support popular sports or athletes after they get success.

“Whereas, sportsmen need real support when they are training, because that is their real struggle, when they have huge expenses of coaching, equipment, travel, rent, food, nutrition, physiotherapy, etc. Since my family is supporting me completely, it is a huge burden on them, especially when I’m representing my country.”

Kotwal added, “It is a big struggle and mental stress to manage all the expenses and it definitely affects the performance. Getting sponsors for all the training expenditure will make a huge positive difference to the performance at races, as it will take away mental stress and high-quality equipment will obviously boost the speed and technique.”

With the cost equipment reaching thousands of dollars, it has now become unsustainable for her to fund her dreams.

Shruti after winning the South Asian gold medal

She added, “I have basically not gotten any support straight from the government. The Ice Skating Association Of India has finally taken few steps to help and support us but so far I have received less than one-fourth financial support from them. I did not receive a single penny for my first season in Canada when I needed it the most!”

Gender discrimination exists in skating: Kotwal

Kotwal also commented on the gender bias within her sport stating, “I have faced a lot of discrimination when it comes to my sport. Male athletes find sponsors easily, and especially females as coaches are not treated even close to their male counterparts. I can rightly say that since I experienced this a lot, when I started coaching roller skating 3 years ago and started my own academy. It is a terrible situation when it comes to equality in sports.“

However, Kotwal remains positive about her timings. She has managed to shave off substantial number of seconds every month, since beginning her training in Canada. Last year, she was seconds away from reaching the World qualification timing.

She said, “It’s very difficult for me to forget the time when the national anthem was playing after I won the medals at the South Asian Games. That will motivate me to continue what I’m doing. Even a little progress is always a motivation. I still have few more seconds to be able to compete at the World Cups but compared to the amount of training I have received on the ice, the improvement has been significantly good.”

As Kotwal inches closer to Olympic qualification, the 2018 edition could see India’s first ever entrant into Ice Skating.