World Skate Games: Anandkumar Velkumar Wins Silver Medal In 1000m Sprint
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Tamil Nadu skater Anandkumar Velkumar won a silver medal in the men's 1000m sprint category at the World Skating Games hosted in Paraguay. He missed out on a chance to win gold by a narrow margin and ended up finishing second on the podium.
India's star skater Anandkumar Velkumar has won two medals so far at the 2026 World Skate, and he will have an opportunity to bag another medal as he will compete in the Marathon on Sunday.
He displayed an excellent performance in the men's 1000-meter sprint event, clocking a time of 1 minute 21.922 seconds. He was fifth at one point of time but then made a strong comeback to finish the race in second position. Notably, the time difference between the gold medalist and Anandkumar was just 4 milliseconds.
Duccio Marsili from Italy won the gold medal with a time of 1 minute 21.918 seconds. Chia-Cheng Cheng from Taiwan won the bronze medal with a time of 1 minute 22.343 seconds.
Earlier, he won a bronze medal in the men's 500m sprint event with a time of 40.856 seconds.
Who is Anandkumar Velkumar?
Born on 19 January 2003, the 23-year-old computer engineering student rose to fame last year when he became India's first-ever senior world champion in speed skating. He won a historic Gold medal in the Senior Men's 1000m Sprint and then followed it up with another Gold in the 42km Marathon and a Bronze in the 500m Sprint. Also, he secured a historic Bronze medal in the 1000m sprint, securing India’s first-ever roller skating podium at the World Games.
Velkumar demonstrated sheer consistency this edition, winning two medals so far.
Velkumar grew up in Chennai and started practising his skills on a local cement badminton court near his home. He was inspired by his sister, Subi Suvetha Velkumar, who is also a competitive Indian skater. His success in Indian sports has brought him into the limelight in the fraternity.