Chandigarh’s Ivaan glides his way to ice skating medals

The lack of a specialised ice skating rink in the region notwithstanding, seven-year-old Ivaan Arora bagged laurels for the city with a third-place finish at the 20th National Ice Skating Championship. The tournament was organised by the Ice Skating Association of India at the Himadri Ice Rink in Dehradun.

Arora, a student of St John’s High School, Sector 26, trains under former national skater Aryan Pal Ghuman in Panchkula. The youngster had earlier represented the city in the roller skating nationals but it was his first stint at an ice skating rink.

“There’s not much difference between ice skating and track (cemented) skating. However, it takes time to get used to the track. The skates are different and approach to finish is the race in ice skating is a little difficult in comparison to normal roller skating. The inline blades, temperature and risk of slipping is higher in ice skating. The temperature in the skating hall is maintained at a certain degree via air conditioners,” said Arora.

Arriving in Dehradun early, Arora took around four to five days to get acclimatise to the conditions in Dehradun. He practised at the same venue before finishing on the podium at an ice-skating event for the first time.

The youngster had participated in two speed skating events — 222m and 333m and won a bronze medal each in both. As many as 41 skaters from 19 states participated in the age category 7-8 years.

He was the sole representative from the city (in individual category) competing at the event, a trial for which had been conducted at the same venue last month.

The 2025 Indian National Short Track Speed Skating Championships was conducted in accordance with the International Skating Union (ISU) Regulations 2022. The Himadri Ice Rink was 30x60m with having a compass 111.12m on an air-conditioned artificial ice surface rink.

“Ice skating is yet to be gain popularity in the region even though a lot of Punjab-based skaters participated in the event. There is a lot of scope for having a similar artificial ice skating rink in Chandigarh or nearby areas for the skaters to encourage them to switch from the highly competitive roller skating,” explained the budding skater.

Chandigarh