A young Michigander will be representing the U.S. in the 2021 Artistic Roller figure skating Championships in Paraguay.

His name is Jayanthesh Kalmat, but everyone calls him Gene.  Gene is a 19-year-old from Livonia.  He's been skating since he was 7.  Roller skating became is passion at an early age partly due to a birth defect according to motownrollerclub,

Gene was born with a rare birth defect in his skull that prevented him from playing other sports growing up such as football and other contact sports.

Gene will be among the best artistic roller figure skaters in the world.  The 2021 Artistic Skating World Championship competitions are taking place in Asuncion, Paraguay September 29th thru October 9th.

Motown Roller Club uploaded a TikTok about Gene Wednesday asking for help raising money for his travel to Paraquay.  That video has been viewed over 29 thousand times in 24 hours.

A GoFundMe has been created to help Gene pay for his travel to the worldwide competitions with a goal of $6,000.  The most recent update reflects a very happy and thankful Michigan teen,

I wanted to say thank you and i truly appreciate all of your wishes and support. The generosity and support has been truly tremendous and overwhelming !! Thank you.
Will be heading to Paraguay on the 26th and will try to keep you all updated when i can.

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As of 6:30 A.M. on September 16th, they have raised $5,435 of their $6,000 goal.  If you would like to help click here for Gene's GoFundMe page.

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