Shiva Keshavan
From: Shiva Keshavan braves serious injury to win Asian Luge Championship gold in Japan, December 23, 2016: The Hindustan Times
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Contents |
Early life
Kuldip Lal, December 30, 2013: Livemint
Himalayan hero
Born in a small village in the foothills of the Himalayas, Keshavan grew up in an area which is a hub for winter sports. His penchant for risk-taking was evident from an early age when he and his boyhood friends used to make their own skis and sleds out of wood.
The son of an Italian mother and Indian father, Keshavan has no doubt where his loyalties lie.
“I was offered Italian citizenship, but I refused because I am an Indian and want to spend my life here,” Keshavan, who lives in Himachal Pradesh, once told AFP in an interview. “So what if they don’t know what a luge is.”
While winter sports struggle for publicity in the cricket-mad country, Keshavan is something of a cult hero.
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ actress Freida Pinto is among a group of Bollywood stars who have raised nearly $15,000 to enable Keshavan to compete on a world-class sled in Russia.
Career highlights, 1998-2013
Keshavan made his Olympic debut as a 16-year-old at Nagano in 1998, when he placed 28th. He’s been an Olympic regular ever since, never finishing anywhere near the medal stand — 33rd in Salt Lake City in 2002, 25th at Turin in 2006, 29th at Vancouver in 2010 and 37th at Sochi four winters ago. He’s always been somewhere around five or 10 seconds behind the gold medalists. That doesn’t sound like much, but in a sport like luge where wins and losses often come down to a few thousandths of a second, that’s roughly the equivalent of finishing about an hour behind the winner of the Boston Marathon. (Associated Press)
Form as in 2017
Keshavan: In a Luge of his own, December 16, 2017: The Times of India
From: Keshavan: In a Luge of his own, December 16, 2017: The Times of India
Shiva Keshavan is probably not going to medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics. That doesn’t make him irrelevant.
His name gets heard once every four years, because of his story: A guy from India, where there is no great winter sports legacy to speak of, goes to the Olympics — in luge of all things. When he competes in Pyeongchang, it’ll be his sixth and almost certainly final time as an Olympian. He’s never finished better than 25th, and that’s not likely to change this February.
Ask him if it was worth it, and he doesn’t hesitate before saying yes. “I didn’t do this for other people to look at my story,” Keshavan said. “I did it for myself. I did it to improve myself and I feel that I’ve come a long way. Until now I’ve learned a lot, traveled the world, met people all over the world and I’ve been privileged to do that. And, well, if other people look at me, I know they’ll respect me for what I did.”
Keshavan was 31st in a 35-slider Nations Cup event on Thursday night at Mount Van Hoevenberg, meaning he won’t be competing in Friday’s World Cup event. Only the top 15 from the Nations Cup advanced, and Keshavan wasn’t close. But that doesn’t deter him, and never has. Keshavan’s attitude has been infectious among other sliders for years, and it’s clear he’ll be missed if this _ as he expects - is the end of his Olympic journey.
“It really is kind of like a community that you’re a part of, and it’s something that’s really hard to let go,” said longtime USA Luge slider Chris Mazdzer, one of the many on the luge circuit who considers Keshavan a good friend. “It is a lot of fun traveling, competing all around the world with a great group of people.”
Keshavan is sort of an unofficial member of many national teams. Keshavan calls Lake Placid his home track, even though it’s 7,000 miles from the Himalayan region that is his actual home. When he finished his race on Thursday night, Australians and Ukrainians were among the first to offer him words of congratulations. And last week Keshavan got help from a Croatian just so he could compete. Keshavan’s sled broke, so Daria Obratov offered hers. It was way too small for Keshavan, and not exactly contoured for him, but he used it anyway and was able to finish the Nations Cup race in Calgary, Alberta — which helped his quest for Pyeongchang.
2012
Two medals in Asia Cup luge
Shiva Keshavan bags two medals in Asia Cup luge, January 5, 2006, updated: March 26, 2012: The Hindu
In a major boost ahead of next month's Winter Olympics in Turin, Indian luge athlete Shiva Keshavan has bagged his first international medals at the Asia Cup in Nagano, Japan.
Keshavan, who made his Olympic debut on the same track eight years ago, won the bronze medal in the singles and then teamed up with Korea's Kim Min Kyu to claim a silver in the doubles event held on Christmas eve last year.
Keshavan was placed fourth after the first heats in the singles but managed to grab the bronze with a good time in the second heat.
Keshavan's podium finish came at an event where 21 of Asia's top luge athletes from Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan were in the fray.
2016
Braves serious injury to win Asian Luge Championship gold
In the Asian Luge Championship, Shiva Keshavan braved an injury to win gold in Nagano, Japan
India’s first Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan braved an injury to win gold at the Asian Luge Championship in Nagano, Japan on Friday.
The 35-year-old Shiva Keshavan dominated the event and finished the Asian Luge Championship race with a time of 1 minute, 39.962 seconds and top speed of 130.4 km/h to clinch the title.
Japan’s Tanaka Shohei came in second with a combined time of 1:44.874 seconds and top speed of 124.6 kmph, while the bronze medal went to Chinese Taipei’s Lien Te-An, who clocked 1:45.120 with a 126.3 kmph top speed.
The Manali-born Keshavan also suffered tendon damage on his left foot after a crash which broke his sled and as a result, he had to miss a major part of the official training for the Asian Luge championship event.
But, it did not cause any problem for the veteran winter Olympian as Shiva Keshavan dominated the competition to win his third gold medal at the Asian Luge Championships.
Keshavan expressed his joy through his official Facebook page, saying, “Thrilled to announce that I’ve just own GOLD at the Luge Asian Championships 2016! Details Soon! :) ”
It was also a brilliant end to 2016 for the 5-time Winter Olympian as earlier this year, Shiva was forced to withdraw from the 2016 World Championships due to lack of funds.
“I was determined to not let anything deter me from the gold medal this time, so despite all the obstacles I decided to risk everything in the race. I want to express my deepest gratitude to all my supporters and sponsors Mallcom Ltd., Hero Electronix, Hero Fincorp and Micromax, without whom I would not have been able to get back on track and win this medal for India,” Shiva said.
Shiva Keshavan is slated to take part in the 2017 World Championship in Innsbruck, Austria and will compete in the World Cup circuit in the lead up to the qualification process for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Korea.
2017
Gold in Asian Luge Championships
Shiva Keshavan wins gold in Asian Luge Championships, Dec 1, 2017: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
The sole Indian participant and defending Asian champion retained his title with a time of 55.60 seconds
Due to technical reasons, the Asian Luge Championships took place at Altenberg in Germany
Keshavan will represent India at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games for his record sixth Olympics
NEW DELHI: India's veteran Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan on Friday won a gold medal at the Asian Luge Championships at Altenberg, Germany.
The sole Indian participant and defending Asian champion retained his title with a time of 55.60 seconds. Due to technical reasons, the Asian Luge Championships took place at Altenberg in Germany.
In a race that was full of surprises, Keshavan started slow but recovered the lead after the second corner. There was a tense moment in the Infamous Curve 11-12 combination, also known as the 'Labyrinth', where Keshavan's sled started a sideways skid, but the Indian was able to bring it under control and retain the lead.
Last year's silver medalist from Korea, Kim Donghyeon, crashed in this same technical portion, but luckily came away with only minor injuries.
Shiva was followed by Lien Te-An of Taiwan (56.12 seconds) and Kim Dong Kyu of Korea (56.50 seconds) who bagged the silver and bronze medals respectively. "I am so proud to bring the gold medal back to India for the fourth time. The track is one of the most difficult in the world and I have had a few bad crashes here in the past. So it was a challenge on many levels. I want to thank all my sponsors and supporters, without who i really would not have made it this far," said Keshavan after the race.
The race, which was originally scheduled in Nagano, Japan, was shifted to the EisKanal in Germany due to technical issues at the Nagano 'Spiral' Venue that had adverse safety implications for the fastest Olympic sport on ice.
Keshavan will represent India at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Alpensia Sliding Centre at Pyeongchang in South Korea for his record sixth Olympics.
