Young skater from Visakhapatnam is on a roll
The Hindu
Bollapragada Sri Sahithi, a teenage roller-skating champion with 94 medals, aims to win more international accolades for India.
City girl Bollapragada Sri Sahithi has entered the India Book of Records recently for the ‘maximum number of medals won by a teenage girl in national and international roller-skating championships’. Barely 13, she already has 94 medals, including gold, silver and bronze, to her name.
Sri Sahithi had participated in the Taiwan Artistic International Open 2024, held from March 29 to 31, 2024. Competing with contestants from India, Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, USA, Italy, Hong Kong and Taiwan, she had participated in three events and won a gold, one bronze and fourth place in Roller Artistic Skating.
“I am keen on participating in all the four forthcoming international roller skating events to be held in 2025 and win medals for the country,” Sri Sahithi told The Hindu on Wednesday.
The 94 medals won by Sri Sahithi include: 47 gold, 38 silver and 9 bronze medals at the district, State, national and international-level roller-skating championships between 2016 and 2024. “She could not participate in the recent Asian Games as she is under 15,” says her father B. Prabhakar.
Sahithi was barely five when she commenced her roller skating journey at a summer camp in Vizag in 2016. Seeing her interest in the sport, her father admitted her to a skating academy in the city. Her coach Pawan Kumar, a former national champion, took special interest in training her.
She became part of the Indian skating team when she was studying in Class VIII, in 2023, and secured three medals, including one silver, two bronze.
“This experience gave her exposure, and made her understand how much hard work is required to be successful on the international stage. In 2024, she won her first gold medal for solo dance skating at the Taipei Artistic Roller Skating Open on March 30, 2024. She also secured a bronze medal in the same event. Seona Martin, Technical Commission Chair of World Skate Oceania, appreciated her talent after observing her performances in international events,” says her father.
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