It is rightfully said that age is nothing but a figure. And Aaditabh Gupta, 13, who won the gold medal at the 16th National Ice Skating Championship earlier this year, is a testimony to it.
The Delhi boy began skating at the tender age of three. “I started with roller skates and later on, on my coach’s recommendation, switched to ice. Gradually my interest started to grow and now my dream is to win gold at the Olympics and make India proud,” says Aaditabh, who went on to play his first national tournament in 2014 in Shimla.
It all started when the family was out on a stroll in a park where children were playing in the skating rink.
“We thought it would be good for him to skate as it will be a good physical activity, but, soon, we realised that he has a knack for it. He proved us right and won medals in roller skates and later moved to ice,” adds the proud father Deepak Gupta, who initially took Aaditabh to Shimla to practice on ice.
In the initial days of trying his hand at ice skating, Aaditabh fell down many times. But with practice the young athlete mastered various skills including jumps, spins, movements, flexibility and postures.
“It was definitely a challenge. Even the commute from Delhi to Gurugram, where I practice ice skating, was long and exhausting. I had to balance my school, homework, tuition and various other sports that I played alongside,” says Aaditabh.
Aaditabh practices twice a week for two-three hours on ice and couple of hours of off-ice exercises at home. Not only ice skating but multi-talented Aaditabh is also learning taekwondo, heads the roller hockey team and recently got selected in his school’s table tennis team. He’s even got some dance moves!
“Above all my passion still lies in ice skating. I follow the two-time world champion Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu,” says Aaditabh, who religiously studies three hours every day. Deepak wants to ensure his son’s Olympic dream is realistic.
“Dreaming about Olympics will not get him there but concentrating on the present will.” he concludes.