Indian skaters: Inline with expectations

The government, though, is getting the message.

For the first time in history, the country's government extended its financial support, under the Scheme for Assistance to National Sports Federations, to athletes competing at the Asian Winter Games.

An annual multi-sports domestic tournament, the Khelo India Winter Games have been held since 2020, with this year's edition having finished all the ice sports prior to the Winter Asiad, and the rest of the snow events to be staged next week after the Harbin Games.

Still, Mishra feels more could be done, citing the host China's proven success in accelerating its winter sports programs from humble beginnings to go toe-to-toe with the world's ice and snow sports superpowers.

"The government support could be better," he said. "For now, it's only for the elite level and not the grassroots."

"I think China is like an inspiration as a country, because in winter sports, I've seen so much money going into the infrastructure and the systems, where they have club-level competitions and different levels of skaters, and they go get funding.

"I think when you have a structure and infrastructure that good, and also hosting a lot of events, seeing the best athletes compete, I think that's the key to success for any country. It's bound to win."

To try and improve quickly for his Winter Asiad debut, Mishra also followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Jadeja and traveled to Europe before the 2024-25 season to seek guidance at the mecca of speed skating in Heerenveen, the Netherlands. There he enjoyed an eye-opening experience, training under double Olympic champion Nils van der Poel's coach.

At a personal cost of about $30,000, the overseas training program has paved way for Mishra's maiden Winter Asiad campaign, despite only recently shifting to ice skating.

Yet, his sights are set way beyond Harbin.

"I want to win the gold medal in the 10,000m at the 2030 Winter Olympics. It's a six-year plan," he said after Monday's race, gasping for breath, yet full of icy determination.