Indian ice skater Vishwaraj Jadeja qualifies for ISU World Cup in Utah

Vishwaraj Jadeja, India's fastest long-distance ice-skater, has qualified for the International Skating Union (ISU). World Cup 2021 for long track speed skating.

Jadeja recently qualified for the big event. That will be held in Salt Lake, Utah from December 3 to 5, 2021. Jadeja worked his way to the World Cup having participated in 12 pre-qualification events since August 2021. And good performance in Salt Lake will put him in a good situation to get a shot at the qualification to Beijing Olympics 2022.

Jadeja will compete in the Mass Start event, which is a shorter version of the Marathon. A Mass Start involves 16 laps of a 400-metre long track.

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"The year 2021 saw the Indian athletes put in a great performance at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. I am inspired by those performances and am trying to make a march towards the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Not many Indians have participated in the winter events. And I feel we are at a juncture where we can push towards it," Jadeja said.

Since India does not have many facilities for winter sports.Jadeja moved to the Netherlands a decade ago in his quest to find glory in ice speed skating. He has been training under the guidance of Wim Nieuwenhuizen, one of the world`s leading ice skating coaches.

Jadeja's achievement

Since then Jadeja has represented India in over 200 races internationally and has been a regular feature on the European ice skating circuit.

One of his most significant achievements came during the Winter World Games Masters 2020, where he won four medals - three silvers and one bronze. Last year, his timing in the 1500 metre event was 2.01.00 - which he has bettered to 1.57.90.

"While I have competed for years and have won medals, it is my dream to make it to the Olympics. The qualification to the World Cup is a major step in that direction. Last year, life came to a standstill due to the pandemic but I continued to stay in the Netherlands and train. This is a reward for my hard work and patience but a bigger one would be qualifying for Beijing," he pointed.