Local skater wins national title

At just 18, Docklands’ speed skater Joshua Kah has become one of Australia’s youngest national champions.

The Australian Speed Skating Championships is an open competition but has never been won by another country. Josh maintained this 50-year-old record by holding off Ethan DeRose from New Zealand, who came a close second.

In accepting victory, Josh thanked his father, Danny, and Nicholas Cicero (OWIA) who both volunteered to coach the Docklands’ speed skating junior team. He also thanks the University of Melbourne, where he is studying engineering, for its support.

Josh received one of 35 elite athlete scholarships from the university. The scholarship has provided off-ice coaching, subject support and partial-funding for his overseas training in Korea and World Cup 1 and 2 competitions in USA where he smashed out a 1000m / 1:26:34 sec (2 seconds under the Olympic qualifying time).

He participated in the Junior World Championships in Montreal between January 25 and 27.

Later, he will meet up with his brother Skyler Kah and compete for Australia at world cup events in Dresden and Turin.

Skyler, who is studying medicine at Monash University, is the only Australian to have qualified all three Olympic qualifying times. Both brothers then fly to Siberia in Russia to compete for the Australian UniRoos team at the Winter Universiade.

The Winter Universiade is a biennial, international multi-sport event that brings together the world’s best winter sport student-athletes for 11 days of intense competition. The event is second only to the Winter Olympic Games in participant numbers and the number of countries attending a winter competition.

When Skyler and Josh return it will be straight back to study and club training at O’Brien Group Arena on Mondays and Thursdays at 6pm.