Moderator, Dr. Ami Parekh
Ami’s Indian roots stem from Mumbai and she is Gujarati. In the USA, Ami is a US Figure Skating triple gold medalist and competed up to the US Junior Nationals level (top 10 in 2000). When India became a new, provisional member of the International Skating Union (ISU), Ami became the Senior National Champion and represented India at ISU competitions from 2004-2007 and 2010-2014. She is mostly known as the first figure skater to represent India at the ISU World Championships (2007 & 2012) and ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (2007, 2013, 2014) and as the first figure skater to perform bharatanatyam on ice. She performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the first South Asian Winter Games (2011). When in India she helped train the figure skaters there, judge at competitions, and perform in shows across the country to help spread awareness of the sport and help obtain funding for ice rinks. She was awarded the Award of Excellence by the FIA at the 33rd Annual India Day Parade (2013) and she was interviewed by BBC Asian Network (2016). She has been coaching part-time since 2007. Ami started, coached and directed the learn-to-skate program for Hockey on your Block and is the co-founder and executive director for a new sister organization Figure Skating on your Block, to help bring figure skating to the economically and racially diverse children in Chicago, who otherwise would not have the opportunity to learn to skate. She is a member of the South Asians in Sports network. She has her BA in neuroscience with a minor in South Asian Studies from University of Pennsylvania. And is currently a resident physician, completing training in the specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation in Illinois (USA). She recently won the 2021 Community Advocacy Award at the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. In her free time Ami coaches and performs in ice shows, part-time. She also loves to play with her 2-year-old son and her new 3 month old baby boy. Her other hobbies include musculoskeletal ultrasound, dancing, hiking, fitness, travelling, and meeting new people. She has been very excited to help get everyone together for this panel to connect, share stories and help inspire and support the next generation of figure skaters.
Follow Ami on:
*Facebook: https://facebook.com/figureskaterAmi
*Twitter: @AmiParekh1
*Instagram: @amoeba24
*Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/user/pkhami

Panelists
Current Competitive Figure Skaters
1) Nishchay Luthra
Nishchay was born in New Delhi, India. He started roller skating at the age of 4. At first, he started competing for his school as a roller speed skater and then later on transitioned into a figure skater and represented India on various international platforms. He moved to the United States at the age of 16 to become a full-time athlete and trained under various World and Olympic coaches. He also started his own skating academy to promote ice skating as a sport in India. He has trained many aspiring young ice skaters and helped them find the right path and grow as figure skaters. Many of his students have performed outstandingly in national and international competitions. He is interested in bringing awareness to sports injuries and is also a brand ambassador for Adidas. He hopes to compete at the Winter Olympic Games in Pairs skating.
Follow Nishchay on:
*Twitter: @nishchayluthra
*Instagram: @nishchayluthra

2) Pooja Kalyan
Pooja is a Team USA figure skater and an incoming freshman at Brown University in Rhode Island, USA. Her family is Kannad. She is the first figure skater from the US state of Arkansas and the only Indian-American figure skater to compete at the US Senior Figure Skating National Championships, placing in the top 10 in the country in 2021. She represents Team USA Figure Skating in ISU international competitions. Pooja is also the 2017 US National Novice Bronze medalist and the 2018 US National Junior Silver medalist. Additionally, she has been recognized by US Figure Skating for her equal pursuit of excellence in school and skating, having received the 2017 USFS Athlete Alumni Award and the 2020 US Figure Skating Scholastic Honors Scholarship Award. In the academic realm, Pooja has passions ranging from neuroscience and sleep medicine to photography and theatre, all of which she hopes to pursue to some extent at Brown. She plans to continue competing for this Olympic season, with difficult triple-triple combinations. In the future, she looks forward to competing at the collegiate level and giving back to the sport through other volunteer activities in the future. Outside of skating and school, Pooja has three dogs, loves to bake, and enjoys yoga, hiking, and reading.
Follow Pooja on:
*Instagram: @poojamkalyan

3) Ishita Kapoor
Ishita is Punjabi, lives in Russia and has been learning figure skating from last eight years. She loves the sport and became Indian Junior National Champion since 2013 and has been representing India internationally including at 3 ISU Junior Grand Prix competitions in
Poland, Armenia, and Russia since 2017. She also placed 1st and 2nd place at the Asian Junior Figure Skating Challenge in 2013 & 2014. She is currently working on mastering her triple jumps. She hopes to encourage this sport in India so that future generations of India can become well acquainted with the sport and perform well in coming years. Her hobbies include dancing, football (soccer), and tennis. She wants to become a figure skating coach and major in psychology in the future.
Follow Ishita on:
*Instagram: @ishitak2003

4) Tara Prasad
Tara is Tamil and began skating at the age of seven. Although her first steps on the ice were in USA, her dream is to represent India in international competitions. She has been the Indian Senior National Champion since 2019 and has represented India in ISU Championships since then. She trains in Colorado Springs, Colorado and plans to compete this Olympic season. She is working on her triple axel. Tara holds Indian citizenship and wants to live in India in the future while helping to build the skating community and proper ice training facilities there. She also wants to climb Mount Everest and hopes to get a BSc in cybersecurity. Her hobbies include painting, hiking, rock climbing, and dancing. She believes that with the correct guidance and resources, anyone can achieve anything they dream of.
Follow Tara on:
*Instagram: @prasad_tara

5) Harshita Rawtani
Harshita is Sindhi and was born in Nashik, India. She started speed roller skating at the age of 3. At the age of 5 she started learning artistic roller skating and then at the age of 10, she started figure skating in Hyderabad, India. She has won 12 Medals at Junior National ice skating competitions since 2015. At the present, she lives in Noida, India and practices at Iskate in Gurugram, India. At the age of 13, she represented Team India at ISU Junior Grand Prix 2019 at Lake Placid, USA. In 2019, she took part in an ISU ice dance seminar in South Korea and in figure skating training camps at Bulgaria. In 2021, Harshita won the bronze medal at the 2nd Khelo India National Winter Games in Gulmarg, India. Apart from an interest in sports, Harshita has trained in various dance forms, including bharatnayam, ballet, and jazz. She loves sketching and painting. She is active member of Indian International Model United Nations and is a meritorious student studying in class Xth.
Follow Harshita on:
*Twitter: @HarshitaRawtani
*Instagram: @harshita_rawtani

5) Priyam Tated
Priyam is a roller and ice skater in India and has won 7 international medals and 34 national medals. He is the Indian Junior National Champion/medalist for past 8 years. His sister Divya and brother Pratham are also Indian national and international roller and ice skaters. He is the recipient of 2019 India's National Child Award, conferred by the President of India (Pradhan Mantri Rasthriya Bal Puraskar) for outstanding achievements in sports. He has lead a Virtual Workout Series for 200 days during the pandemic previous year and also conducted an Online Workout Competition all around the globe which included 500 participants from 6 countries. He is a brand ambassador for Uplift A Child International, supporting education for the underprivileged. He mentors younger skaters and plans to go into a career in emerging technologies. He is currently getting ready for ISU JGP this season.
Follow Priyam on:
*Instagram: @priyam_tated

6) Manjesh Tiwari
14-year old Manjesh from New Dehli, India comes from a family of 7. He started ice skating after getting inspired by his brother, Rajkumar Tiwari, who is the only Indian figure skater to become the 2013 Special Winter Olympics Champion. Rajkumar moved to the US to work, also trying to make ends meet in order to support his younger brother’s training. Manjesh is an Indian Skating champion, now training in Adelaide, Australia under coach Richard Laidlaw, winning competitions in Australia in the Novice Men’s category. Laidlaw met Rajkumar several times at international competitions, at which point Rajkumar asked if Laidlaw could coach his little brother Manjesh. Laidlaw saw great potential in Manjesh and agreed to have him live in his house with his family in Australia. Laidlaw has been offering Manjesh skating scholarships for training and helping him with his online education. Manjesh is currently training for the 2022 Junior Grand Prix Series, hoping to qualify for the 2022 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. He loves doing triple salchows and triple toe loops and is currently working on perfecting the last few triples. Because he is busy spending 11 hours per week skating and 10 hours per week doing off-ice fitness, in addition to on-line schooling, he currently doesn’t have much time to pursue other interests. However, he does enjoy skateboarding, swimming, and hiking as hobbies. Manjesh’s future dream is to represent India at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Follow Manjesh on:
*Instagram: @manjesh_tiwari.ice

7) Malak Faisal Zafar
13-year old Malak started skating at the age of 5 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She became known as the first Pakistani skater to win an international competition when she secured the first place in the 24th International Eiscup Innsbruck 2019 in Austria. Malak started introducing the sport of figure skating in Pakistan by visiting the northern Areas of Pakistan where she demonstrated her sport in sub-zero temperatures. Malak along with her parents organized skating camps in Karachi, Islamabad, Gilgit Balaistan and Hunza Valley. While in Dubai she won or medaled at the following competitions:
• 1st Place and 2 times Gold Medal in Skate Emirates
• 1st Place and won Gold Medal and First Place Trophy in Catalonia Spain
• 4th place in International competitions in Andorra
• 1st Place in 24th International Eiscup Innsburck 2019 in Austria
In 2020 Malak moved to United States with her family and started skating with Triangle Figure Skating Club in North Carolina. She has competed in many competitions in the US and is looking forward to the upcoming US Figure Skating Championship Series. Apart from school Malak likes nature, walk, listen to music and learn about robotics and space.
Follow Malak on:
*Facebook Page: First Pakistani Figure Skater
*Twitter: @1stpakistanifs
*Instagram: @FirstPakistaniFigureSkater
*Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCeynuRlRXZzH5aNl6CURJLQ

Retired/Professional Figure Skaters
1) Mayuri Bhandari
Born in New Jersey, raised in Las Vegas, and closely in touch with her Marwadi Jain heritage, Mayuri is a professional actress, figure skater, dancer, & choreographer of East Indian descent. She is a former 2008 Indian Junior National Champion and a recipient of the 'Blade Award' from the Nevada Figure Skating Club. Mayuri premiered figure skating on Indian Television Dare 2 Dance (Star Plus w/ Akshay Kumar, 2014) & Just Dance (Life OK w/ Hrithik Roshan, 2011). A performer at heart, Mayuri brings her passion for dance through her choreography on ice; she loves representing culture through artistry. Her YouTube Channel 'Bollywood on Ice' (56K subscribers) showcases some of these fusions. She hopes to further inspire South Asian figure skaters (skating in India) and choreograph artistic pieces for competing athletes. Mayuri's background lies in the Hollywood & Hindi film industries; she is also a Bollywood Fitness Co-Founder, Miss India Global 2015 (model), comedienne, VO artist, & writer. As an actress, Mayuri has appeared in numerous television & theatrical shows, notably on FOX, ABC, Hulu, Amazon Prime, & Netflix. Her commercials include Toyota, Google, One Plus w/ Robert Downey Jr, Petsmart, Rebtel, Big Lots, University of Phoenix, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson- particularly a (figure skating) winter campaign with Old Navy. Through her poetry, Mayuri creates works with a powerful social message. She voices veganism, women's empowerment, and stories of brown experience and history. She is a part of Prison Yoga + Meditation in DTLA and engages with various communities through dance. Mayuri seeks to be a part of authentic stories of the South Asian Diaspora & marginalized groups/species in genres of Action, Drama, & Comedy. She is fluent in Hindi & Marwari. She received her B.A. from UC Berkeley in Dance and her M.A. from LMU in Yoga Studies.
Follow Mayuri on:
*Facebook: @mayuribhandariofficial
*Twitter: @mayuribhandari
*Instagram: @mayuribhandariofficial
*Youtube Channel: 'Bollywood on Ice' : https://www.youtube.com/MayuriBhandari123

2) Amar Mehta
Amar Mehta is a USA triple gold medalist, Indian Junior National Champion from 2004-2007, and the first figure skater to represent India at the ISU Junior World Championships in 2007. His Gujarati roots stem from Mumbai. He also invented a Level 4 skating spin called the Gobbledegook. He is a US national spelling bee competitor. His hobbies include chess, juggling, and writing. After graduating in molecular biology and genetics from Northwestern University in 2014, he published the novel "Dispossession," the first installation of the The Line of Leera trilogy. He is currently completing his fourth year of medical school.
Purchase his book on:
*Barnes and Noble: https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/dispossession-amar-mehta/1124946192
*Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dispossession-Amar-Mehta/dp/1436393558

3) Nikhil Pingle
Nikhil started skating in India, at the age of 7, after watching the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy on TV. He is a formerl 3-time Indian Junior National Champion
He started out as a speed skater finishing 5th place at the Maharashtra State Championships. He wanted to figure skate, however due to a lack of facilities and coaching, he went into artistic roller skating. He travelled far to find any workable training facilities and eventually moved with his supportive mother to Hyderabad to train at the best coaching facility at the time, under Anup Yama, former World Roller Skating Champion. He soon shifted his focus to his main goal – figure skating. He started out his figure skating career by winning a bronze medal at the National Championships in 2013 held in Shimla. He was then invited at the ISU World Development Trophy in Manila, his first ever international appearance, where he finished 5th place. He realized that artistic roller skating and figure skating had very different techniques for all jumps and spins, and he wanted to learn ice skating correctly. Furthermore, he wasn’t able to find regular ice time on a daily basis in India. He moved to Thailand for 3 weeks that year, so that he could train under a professional figure skating coach. He improved a lot in Thailand, and went on to compete at the Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy in Thailand, where he was placed 1st, and the ISU World Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2013 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. He also competed at the ISU World Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2014 series in Nagoya, Japan as well as Zagreb, Croatia.
After finishing 2nd at Nationals in 2015 he decided he would stop competing and focus more on training to make a good comeback. He moved to USA for one year through the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program where he went to school and occasionally skated. After returning from the USA, he went to Oberstdorf, Germany for intensive training. He made his comeback at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, where he placed 21st and achieved his personal best score, becoming the first figure skater from India at the Asian Winter Games after 40 years of India’s participation in the Games. He also became the only Indian male so far to have represented India at 4 ISU JGPs. He received a grant from the National Sports Development Fund of the Indian Government which allowed him to train from July 2017 to January 2018 at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie, Ontario, Canada under Michael Hopfes and Douglas Leigh. Nikhil has now retired from skating. He is currently a Young Ambassador of the German Academic Exchange Service and is studying Computer Science at the Technical University of Munich, the best ranked university in Germany for the field of Computer Science. He wants to eventually become a figure skating judge. His hobbies include running, watching movies, and table tennis.
Follow Nikhil on:
*Instagram: @nikhil_pingle

4) Anavi Tekriwal
Anavi is a former Indian Junior National Figure Skating champion/medalist from 2014-2015. She represented India on the ISU Junior circuit, including at the 10th Avas Cup and the U.S. Challenge. Anavi began skating when she was 7 years old and immediately fell in love. Her programs were a form of self-expression and when choreographing, she often married traditional skating technique with her background in Indian classical dance. For her, the opportunity to represent India on the world stage was the greatest honor. She credits her success to the support of her parents, grandparents and brother. She also recently graduated from Stanford University, where she received a B.S. in Management Science and Engineering with a minor in Poetry. During her time at Stanford, Anavi was also awarded the 2020 Award of Excellence, for being in the top 10% of her graduating class. She is currently an investment banking analyst at Centerview Partners as part of their technology practice. Her prior professional experience includes working at Goldman Sachs, First Republic Bank and with technology startups.

5) Yoniko (Tina) Washington
Tina has Tamil roots and is a US Figure Skating double gold medallist and former Indian Senior National Champion in 2009-2010. She competed twice at the ISU Senior World Championships (2009 & 2010) and three times on the ISU Junior Grand Prix Circuit. She currently coaches on the weekends and skates on a Theatre on Ice Team. She also graduated with a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Tech and works full-time as an automation engineer for Abbott Laboratories. Growing up, skating helped shaped her work ethic and allowed her to utilize a creative part of herself. It has helped structure and contribute to her mindset as a student and now as an engineer. As an adult, figure skating gives her a space to exercise and a sense of community, and brings her joy.
Follow Tina on:
*Instagram: @tinatwirlsandtravels