Internationally acclaimed Indian skater Nishchay Luthra takes social media by storm, turns to celebrities for help

Adidas, one of the largest sportswear companies in the world launched a campaign #FanTheFire on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, that aims at supporting athletes who play unconventional sports. In their first digital campaign, Adidas features Nishchay Luthra, an Indian figure skater who is aiming to raise the Indian flag high at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

The campaign has created a storm in various social media outlets, including Twitter.

 

10 years of training, 3 a.m. alarms & 1 aim. Let's #FanTheFire for young Indian figure skater @NishchayLuthra. https://t.co/MXF4DPARL2 pic.twitter.com/VHyR4AILw4

— Nishchay Luthra (@adidas_Uprising) June 27, 2017

 

Luthra has won 4 International medals for the country and is a nine time National gold medallist. In the video, Luthra’s mother speaks about her son’s struggle to reach the place where he is now. His mother claims she is his biggest fan, and the video ends with a catchy line ‘Let’s fan his fire. Let’s change our Twitter display name.’

Following the release of this video on Twitter, celebrities have joined the campaign to change their own page’s display name to ‘Nishchay Luthra’. The whole aim of this action is to grab attention and join hands to fulfil Luthra’s dream. Cricketers like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Unmukt Chand have responded to the campaign already by changing their names.

 

Changing my display name to support Indian figure skater @NishchayLuthra. Let's #FanTheFire & fuel his dreams. https://t.co/3KdSgbjoP0 https://t.co/tMwrmIMFWx

— Nishchay Luthra (@RishabPant777) June 27, 2017

 

Bollywood star, Ranveer Singh has also posted Luthra’s inspiring video on his Twitter page.

 

This kid's great! Full of talent, drive and passion! Indian Figure Skater @NishchayLuthra. #FanTheFire https://t.co/IUqy8WT6Zd pic.twitter.com/NbVKfRhTFd

— Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) June 27, 2017

 

In one of his tweets, Luthra has also tried to reach people like Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Kapil Sharma seeking financial support which he needs for training. Nischchay is currently in Florida going through rigourous training sessions.

 

https://t.co/53LiN8nejt @iHrithik @iamsrk @BeingSalmanKhan @KapilSharmaK9 @sachin_rt due to lack of funds can't reach my goal please support

— Nishchay Luthra (@NishchayLuthra) June 27, 2017

A report from Times of India stated that Luthra was all of eight years old when he taught himself to skate, watching online videos. Nine years later, he is the national iceskating champion with a dream of winning a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. But if Luthra does not get funds on time, he may never realise his dream.

"The Olympic association wants me to participate, but I need infrastructure and funding to train and come up to my opponents' level," said Luthra.

Speaking on the innovative campaign, to ET Brand Equity, Sean van Wyk, senior Marketing Director, Adidas India said, “With #FanTheFire, we seek to shine a spotlight on athletes and sports which are not mainstream, and in turn, inspire the next generation to take up such sports. The campaign urges fan’s to support Nishchay and we hope that the encouragement of better-known athletes will help him gain the necessary patronage to reach his aim of winning a medal at the Winter Games in 2018.”

After the launch of this campaign, Adidas has a clear message for the people in India. It aims at spreading the message that even though cricket is a religion here, there are other sports youngsters take part in, for which they need support to train hard. The athletes who are taking part in alternate sports need both financial support and emotional support in the country like India where cricket is the dominating sport.