Tag: shiva keshavan oly

Six-time Olympian and recipient of 10 medals including four gold in international luge championships, Shiva Keshavan, who sustained his career as professional luger for 22 years mostly by crowdfunding, has been recommended for Arjuna award. A resident of Manali, the 38-year-old Keshavan, is among the 29 athletes who have been recommended for the Arjuna award by the National Sports Awards Selection Committee of Union Sports Ministry. While other athletes have been recommended for the award in well-known sports, this is for the first time that government is awarding an athlete for luge, a sport about which very few people in India have heard. Keshavan is presently president of the Olympians Association of India and chief coach of the national team by Luge Federation of India. He was the first Indian to ever win an international medal in winter sports and is the only athlete from the country to qualify for Olympics in luge. “Finally years of my hard work is getting recognition. I think I could have done better if I had government support since the very beginning of my career. I am thankful to the members of the selection committee for giving me this opportunity. It means a lot to me. Hopefully, this will help in the improvement of the winter sports infrastructure in the country,” Shiva Keshavan said. The story of Shiva Keshavan qualifying for the Winter Olympics for the first time in 1998 till being recommended for this prestigious award is full of struggle and hard work. Though he participated in over 100 world championships, Asian Cups and other international tournaments but always remained in the financial crisis for his sports gears, travel and training expenses. He could not participate in any championship for two years due to lack of funding. Given his skills and zeal for