Skater Arun glides to gold in USA

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh skater Arun Rayudu did India proud by winning a gold medal at the USA Northeast Inter-Collegiate Figure Skating Championship held in New York, thereby becoming the first Indian to achieve the feat in the championship’s history.

Arun was representing Northeastern University in Ice Skating and finished ahead of second-placed Trace Harris from University of Maine and Rutgers University skater Hadley Nechin, who took the third spot. Arun is pursuing a Masters degree in Project Management from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Championship also saw the participation of 2022 Olympic Gold medallist Karen Chen, who represented Cornell University and won gold in the senior Solo Free dance event.

A total of 24 universities participated in the championship, including prestigious Ivy League schools like Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Brown and Dartmouth College, as well as other esteemed institutions like MIT, Boston University, New York University, the University of Massachusetts and the University of Connecticut.

Arun is a former world No. 5 and Asia No. 2 in skating. He has several medals from competitions at different levels.