Foundation Aarathy Kasturiraj,Skater

At the age of Sixteen, this wonder girl is punching the air in triumph. Aarathy Kasturiraj, a 11^th std Student of Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram School, Kilpauk, Chennai, India, is the daughter of Mr.C.Kasturiraj, a renowned builder, and Dr.Mala Raj, a practicing Doctor. Aarathy started her skating career at the age of seven, and has already won 79 Medals out of which 64 are Gold, 8 Silver and 7 Bronze at various national and international skating events - both ice skating and inline skating.

One of the major factors of encouragement, during the initial days of her engagement with skating, was the principal of her school, Mr.J.Ajeeth Prasath Jain. The motivation and the guidance from him made such a difference in her persuasion towards success.
Her determination to win was well established by the principal and all the Mentors.

It all started in the year 2001 when seven-year-old Aarathy, went along with her Parents to a local park near her house. There she saw children of her age skating. She was fascinated by it and insisted on trying it out herself. Intrigued by the power and speed of the sport, she started going for regular training. With the able guidance of her coach K.P.Unnikrishnan, she tasted her first victory at a club level event within a year. The same year, she won the Individual Championship at the district level event.

While the full credit for the achievements goes to Aarathy, her Father too has contributed a lot for the child to realise her dream. Aarathy’s father has taken time out from his busy schedule to take her to Mysore for coaching under the guidance of Mr.K.Srikantha Rao and to Korea to coach under Mr.W.G.Park and also to Switzerland for long practice sessions. Her mother too takes time from her demanding profession to help the child cope with her studies so as to enable her to keep up with her class.

For a child coming from Tamil Nadu, a tropical region where ice skating is not very popular, to win so many awards is indeed a formidable achievement.

Hailed as the ‘Ice Princess’, this young achiever with a steady focus, fierce determination and a passion that is only growing deeper and stronger, wears her many victories with ease. Whether it was winning the Swiss Inline Cup which is dominated by European countries or winning several national competitions. She has earned herself the distinction of many unprecedented victories for her state as well as her nation. Aarathy’s dream is to win a GOLD MEDAL FOR INDIA IN THE OLYMPICS and she is preparing herself for the same.


	Her first national level victory came in October 2004 when she won Gold in the 5th CBSE National Roller Skating Championship held at Nagpur. Since then, there has been no looking back for her
	In May 2005, Aarathy represented the country in the Swiss Inline Cup and won a Gold Medal. In this short span, this young achiever has gone on to earn innumerable medals and accolades, and has many firsts to her credit. she won Two Gold Medals in the “2007 Short Track Speed Skating (Ice Skating) - Fall Winter Ranking Competition” organized by Chinese Taipei Skating Union held on Oct 15th, 16th and 17th 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan
	Aarathy took part in the 13th ASIAN ROLLER SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS, held in Haining City, CHINA from 12th to 22nd of October 2008 and she ranked two 4th places in the Road 5000m and Track 3000m Relays Junior Ladies event. She also ranked two 6th places in the Road 20,000m and Track 10,000m Elimination Junior Ladies events respectively. She is one of the Four Skaters selected from India to represent in the junior level. She is the only Skater from Tamil Nadu to participate under this category in the Asian Games. Aarathy had won 3rd Place in the Junior Ladies 2000m Relay at 2008 Asian Short Track Speed Skating Trophy, which was held in Taipei from 14th to 16th of November 2008