Hate won't stop me: Figure skater Tara Prasad responds to death threats

Tara Prasad, an Indian-American figure skater who gave up US citizenship to represent India, has made a forceful statement calling out the death threats and nasty remarks she has been getting on the internet.

Turning to social media, the 25-year-old athlete underlined the difficulties of her sport and her relentless will to represent India on the international stage.

"Hello everyone. I'm going to address something.... It's easy to send death threats, hatred, discriminatory messages. I hope you are proud of yourselves," Prasad wrote.

She further added, "To those accusing me of horrible things and sending me hatred, you have free will to speak whatever you want. But at least research the challenges of figure skating first before you speak. I chose this path knowing these challenges, and I won’t give up."

Prasad also spoke about her dual commitments, balancing a full-time university education in the United States alongside her competitive skating career.

"I am also in university full time in the US as an engineering student. If I want a sports career later—task!! But I am doing it because, in life, I will be fully self-sufficient. It’s not an easy REPRESENTATION matters INTERNATIONALLY in sports like figure skating."

Prasad is driven towards her goals of qualifying for the Figure Skating World Championships and finally representing India at the Winter Olympics despite the animosity she has encountered.

"What the real challenge is, is going to international events again and again to try to reach a score!! My goal is to qualify Worlds, which is not easy!! I want to represent the Indian flag in major competitions, which you cannot just walk into and do!! Otherwise, it would not be Worlds, Olympics, etc."

She also addressed rumors circulating about her personal life, emphasizing that misinformation is being spread.

"One more thing—I usually do not talk about my life, and people have unfortunately taken advantage of that to tell things about my life that are not true, whether their intentions were pure or not. I am just saying, if it did not come from me, it is a rumor."

The Bridge did reach out, but Tara Prasad was unavailable for a comment.

Prasad has been in the spotlight recently after Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, praised her achievements on social media.

In his post, Mahindra highlighted that Prasad had relinquished her U.S. citizenship in 2019 to represent India and has since secured three national championships in figure skating.

The businessman lauded her perseverance, especially after narrowly missing the last Winter Olympics, encouraging her to continue her pursuit of competing in the 2026 Games.

His words of encouragement garnered plenty of attention for Prasad and created awareness of her achievements and pursuit. But in light of the latest revelation from Prasad, exposure appears to have brought with it unwarranted criticism and animosity.