Tara Prasad (born 24 February 2000) is an Indian-American figure skater who represents India in women's singles skating. She is the 2024 Reykjavik International silver medalist, 2024 Skate Celje silver medalist, and a three-time Indian national champion (2022, 2023, 2024). She has competed in the final segments of the 2022 and 2023 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.[1]

Tara Prasad
Prasad at the 2021 Cup of Austria
Born (2000-02-24) 24 February 2000 (age 24)
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States
HometownChennai, India
Colorado Springs, United States
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Figure skating career
Country India (since 2020)
 United States (until 2016)
DisciplineWomen's singles
CoachStephanie Kuban
Tom Zakrajsek
Ryan Jahnke
Rebecca Bradley
Skating clubIce Skating Association of Tamil Nadu
Began skating2007

Personal life

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Prasad was born on 24 February 2000 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Indian immigrants from Tamil Nadu. Her mother, Kavita Ramaswamy, was a national champion in hurdling for India in her teens. Except for her father Sai Prasad, who lives with her in the United States, Prasad's family lives in Chennai, India.[2] Prasad splits her time between the two countries and has held Indian citizenship since 2019.[3][4][5][6]

Prasad's figure skating inspirations include 2010 Olympic champion Kim Yu-na, 2018 Olympic champion Aljona Savchenko, 2015 World champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, and fellow Indian-American skater Ami Parekh.[5][7]

She enjoys hiking, rock climbing, art, choreography and driving cars.[4]

Career

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Prasad began learning how to skate at age seven in Cedar Rapids. She competed domestically for the United States as a child at the juvenile through the novice levels until 2016.[8][9] She made her senior international debut for India in 2020 at the Mentor Toruń Cup.[10][11]

She competed at both the 2022 and 2023 Four Continents Championships, finishing twentieth and fourteenth, respectively.[2][12][13]

In January 2024, Prasad placed first in the short program and third in the free skate segments of the 2024 Reykjavik International Games and received the silver medal, thereby becoming India's first medalist in a senior international figure skating competition.[14]

Programs

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Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2024–2025
[15]
2023–2024
[16]
2022–2023
[12]
2021–2022
[17]

Competitive highlights

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International[18]
Event 19–20 21–22 22–23 23–24 24–25
Four Continents 20th 14th
CS Cup of Austria 29th
CS Finlandia 22nd
CS Nebelhorn 30th
CS Tallinn Trophy 7th
CS Trophée Métropole Nice 22nd
CS Warsaw Cup WD
Bavarian Open 6th
Bellu Memorial WD
Cranberry Cup 18th 9th 12th
Dragon Trophy 5th
Mentor Toruń Cup WD
Merano Cup 4th
Philadelphia 7th
Reykjavík Int. Games 2nd
Skate Celje 2nd
U.S. Classic 8th
National[18]
Indian Champs. 1st 1st 1st

Detailed results

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ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System [11]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS 133.15 2023 Four Continents Championships
Short program TSS 46.04 2023 Four Continents Championships
TES 24.45 2023 Four Continents Championships
PCS 22.92 2021 CS Cup of Austria
Free skating TSS 87.11 2023 Four Continents Championships
TES 45.63 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
PCS 45.40 2023 Four Continents Championships

Senior level

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Results in the 2019-20 season[11]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Jan 7-12, 2020   2020 Mentor Toruń Cup 16 28.27 WD
Results in the 2021-22 season[11]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Aug 11-15, 2021   2021 Cranberry Cup International 14 46.47 19 77.64 18 124.11
Sep 15-18, 2021   2021 U.S. Figure Skating Classic 9 44.66 8 84.53 8 129.19
Sep 21-25, 2021   2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 34 37.51 24 84.76 30 122.27
Nov 11-14, 2021   2021 CS Cup of Austria 26 44.44 30 66.14 29 110.58
Jan 17-22, 2022   2022 Four Continents Championships 20 43.31 19 84.62 20 127.93
Feb 4-6, 2022   2022 Merano Cup 14 50.08 4 84.31 4 134.39
Feb 10-13, 2022   2022 Dragon Trophy 6 52.54 2 103.42 5 155.66
Feb 24-27, 2022   2022 Bellu Memorial 9 45.86 WD
Results in the 2022-23 season[11]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Aug 3-7, 2022   2022 Philadelphia Summer International 7 45.60 6 80.94 7 126.54
Aug 10-14, 2022   2022 Cranberry Cup International 10 46.12 8 87.43 9 133.35
Oct 5-9, 2022   2022 CS Finlandia Trophy 19 44.26 22 78.49 22 122.75
Jan 31-Feb 5, 2023   2023 Bavarian Open 6 47.20 6 85.70 6 132.90
Feb 7-12, 2023   2023 Four Continents Championships 14 46.04 14 87.11 14 133.15
Results in the 2023-24 season[11]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Aug 10-14, 2023   2023 Cranberry Cup International 15 43.11 11 84.17 12 127.28
Nov 16-19, 2023   2024 CS Warsaw Cup 27 42.31 WD
Nov 21-24, 2023   2023 Tallinn Trophy 8 48.24 6 88.34 7 136.58
Jan 26-28, 2024   2024 Reykjavik International Games 1 45.98 3 77.92 2 123.90
Results in the 2024–25 season[11]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Oct 16–20, 2024   2024 CS Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur 19 42.74 22 74.70 22 117.44
Nov 14-17, 2024   2024 Skate Celje 1 52.76 4 92.48 2 145.24

References

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  1. ^ "Indian figure skater Tara Prasad wins hearts on Four Continents Championships debut". The Bridge. 23 January 2022. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Indian Figure Skater Tara Prasad Makes Stellar Debut at Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2022". News18. 24 January 2022. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Quarterly Publication of Individuals, Who Have Chosen To Expatriate, as Required by Section 6039G". Federal Register. 15 August 2019. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b Kapur-Gomes, Suruchi (16 July 2023). "How Indian skaters are gaining global recognition". Firstpost. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  5. ^ a b Nag, Utathya. "Mission Olympics - Tara Prasad dreams to mix Indian creativity and Bollywood on ice". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  6. ^ "In India my skates are taken for weapons sometimes" Amazing story of Indian skater Tara Prasad who admires Tuktamysheva and wants to go on training camp with Tutberidze". FS Gossips. Archived from the original on 10 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  7. ^ Kuznetsov, Dmitry (21 January 2022). ""Мой кумир — Туктамышева! Она же поедет на Олимпиаду, да?" Интервью индийской фигуристки, которая хочет к Тутберидзе" ["My idol is Tuktamysheva! She's going to the Olympics, right? Interview with an Indian figure skater who wants to see Tutberidze] (in Russian). Sport-Express.ru. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Tara PRASAD". RinkResults.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Tara Prasad". statsonice.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  10. ^ "2020 Mentor Torun Cup- Womens [sic] Final Results". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Tara Prasad". SkatingScores.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Tara PRASAD: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  13. ^ Ansari, Aarish. "Tara Prasad on comeback trail after injury, figure skater eyes Winter Olympics debut in 2026". Olympics.com. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Júlía fyrst íslenskra listskautara til að vinna gull á alþjóðlegu móti". RÚV (in Icelandic). 29 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Tara PRASAD: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 6 November 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  16. ^ "2023-24 FP Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Tara PRASAD: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Competition Results: Tara PRASAD". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
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