Covid crisis: Ice figure skater Manjesh’s career hits financial roadblock, needs funding to continue representing India

NEW DELHI: India’s figure skater, Manjesh Tiwari’s promising career has hit a financial roadblock. Younger brother of

Rajkumar Tiwari

, the country’s lone Special Winter Olympics gold medallist, Manjesh has been struggling for funds to continue pursuing his sport and, in the process, represent the tricolour at the international

figure skating

meets, which will help him earn qualification for the World Grand Prix and World Championships.


Manjesh has been training in Australia under coach Richard Laidlaw and will be competing in two international tournaments in coming weeks – NFSC Club Championships 2020 on September 27 and SA State Championships and Spring Cup 2020 from October 10–11. He has received the participation consent from

the Ice-Skating Association of India

for the same. However, to continue competing in future international events, Manjesh desperately needs the financial support. Due to the coronavirus

pandemic

and the resultant loss of income, Manjesh’s family, which comes from a humble background, has been finding it difficult to meet the high cost involved with their son’s sport.

For the purpose, a crowd-funding campaign has been launched by Manjesh’s supporters –https://www.khelsahyog.org/campaign-details/manjesh-az56 – to enable him to follow his dreams.

Manjesh, who had come agonizingly close to finishing on the podium before settling for a fourth-place finish at the prestigious Oceania International Novice figure Skating Championship 2019 in Melbourne, informed about his preparations for the two upcoming meets under coach Laidlaw. “I practice for five hours each day after which I spend half an hour with the choreographer. I will then attend his online classes,” said Manjesh, who has multiple medals at the national level to his name, from Melbourne. He added that his immediate goal is to participate at the Junior Grand Prix following which he dreams of securing participation for the

2026 Winter Olympics

.

His brother, Rajkumar, who has been living in the United States since February 2, 2020, and is working there to help his brother manage his finances, informed that he has written to the Ice-Skating Association of India requesting financial assistance for Manjesh. Rajkumar, who won a gold and a silver in pairs at the Special Olympics World Winter Games 2013 in PyeongChang, South Korea, has stated in his mail to the federation that the family was finding it hard to meet the expenses of the sport for Manjesh owing to covid-19 pandemic.

“So far, the family has made many sacrifices for me and my brother and helped us to bring laurels for the country. But owing to the coronavirus pandemic, it has become nearly impossible for us to keep on matching the expenses for Manjesh. Therefore, we were hoping to get some financial assistance from the association which will help Manjesh to continue his practice and focus on his performance,” Rajkumar’s mail read.

“The support from the federation will surely uplift Manjesh’s confidence while it will also show that the association believes in Manjesh’s ability and backs him. This, in turn, will also be seen as a remarkable step by the association and it will be a major boost for the lovers of the sport in the country,” the mail concluded.

Describing his brother as his role model, Manjesh further stated that he wants to achieve success like his Rajkumar and wants to make the country proud. “Whatever I have achieved so far or whatever I am today is all because of my elder brother and I thank him for his constant support and belief in me.”