Shiva Keshavan,OLY[1] (born 25 August 1981) is a six-time Olympian and the first Indian representative to compete in luge at the Winter Olympic Games. He set a new Asian speed record at 134.3 km/h (83.5 mph) after beating the previous record of 131.9 km/h (82.0 mph) and won a gold medal in the 2011 Asian Luge Cup at Nagano in Japan.
Keshavan skied as a child and won the Junior National Ski Championship in 1995 at the age of 14. At the age of 15, he attended a luge camp at his school conducted by world champion Günther Lemmerer.[2] Keshavan was selected as a promising young athlete and went on to become the youngest person to ever officially qualify for the Olympic Games in luge, attending the 1998 Nagano games at the age of 16.
In 2014, Keshavan walked as an Independent Olympic Participant at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Sochi due to the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association. However, later on during the Sochi Winter Olympics, Indian Olympic Association made a comeback as a recognized country by the International Olympic Committee resulting in Keshavan competing under the Indian flag.
Beginning in November 2014, Keshavan collaborated with Duncan Kennedy to train for 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Duncan acted as Keshavan’s personal coach while leveraging his technical expertise to improve Keshavan’s sled.
Keshavan qualified for his sixth and final Olympics in 2018,[3] where he finished 34th out of 40 athletes in the men's singles event.[4]
In 2014 Shiva Keshavan became the founder-president of the Olympians Association of India and is committed to support the Olympic movement in India.
Shiva now aims at promoting Winter Games in India, and creating an ecosystem to produce more athletes competing at the highest level.
Trainingedit
In 2002, the Italian luge team offered Keshavan full use of their coaches and training facilities if he competed under the Italian flag, but he did not take the offer, insisting he wanted to continue representing India.[5] "For me the dream was to get the Olympics to my hometown, and that was the only reason I was doing it. To show that we are also here."
Keshavan often speaks in interviews about his struggles to finance his career. Early in his career, he would borrow sleds for his races. After landing in Montreal for the 2002 games, he hitchhiked to Salt Lake City.[3] In 2006, he did not compete for two seasons due to running out of funds.[5] Keshavan gets most of his money from crowdfunding on the Internet and in the 2014 Sochi games, his uniform bore the names of 50,000 donors.[3]
Keshavan spends time promoting the cause of winter sports in India; a grassroots level luge camp was held in India by Keshavan in 2009 for young athletes interested in trying the sport.[7] Ten were selected to form the Junior National Luge team to train in Japan. Since then, around 200 Indian children have attended his training camps, and after retiring from competition Keshavan plans to focus on recruiting new Indian winter athletes.[5]
Keshavan gained some fame after a training session during which he fell off his sled and yet managed to climb back on and complete the run; the video of the training run was shared widely on the internet.[8][9][10]
Referencesedit
^Olympians: Olympians for Life – website of the WOA
^"OLYMPICS: NAGANO 1998; Teen-Age Luger Carries All of India". New York Times. 3 February 1998.
^ abcBhatt, Gaurav (14 January 2018). "Shiva Keshavan: India's lion in winter". The Indian Express. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
^"Luge Result Men's Singles". Olympic.org. 11 February 2018.
^ abcd"The Lonely, Starry-Eyed Mission of India's Sole Luger". New York Times. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
^. india-today.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2001.
^Bolan, Kim (6 November 2009). . Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 10 November 2009.
^. NBCOlympics.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
^"Indian Luger Shiva Keshavan becomes overnight Sensation at Sochi". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
^70 MPH(113 km/h) Luge Crash and Amazing Recovery - Shiva Keshavan. YouTube. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
shiva, keshavan, born, august, 1981, time, olympian, first, indian, representative, compete, luge, winter, olympic, games, asian, speed, record, after, beating, previous, record, gold, medal, 2011, asian, luge, nagano, japan, keshavan, 2017personal, informatio. Shiva Keshavan OLY 1 born 25 August 1981 is a six time Olympian and the first Indian representative to compete in luge at the Winter Olympic Games He set a new Asian speed record at 134 3 km h 83 5 mph after beating the previous record of 131 9 km h 82 0 mph and won a gold medal in the 2011 Asian Luge Cup at Nagano in Japan Shiva KeshavanKeshavan in 2017Personal informationBorn 1981 08 25 25 August 1981 age 42 Manali Himachal Pradesh IndiaWebsitewebsiteSportCountry IndiaSportLugeEventMen s singlesTurned pro1998Achievements and titlesPersonal best134 3km hMedal record Representing India Men s luge Asia Cup Asian Championship 2017 Altenberg Men s singles 2016 Nagano Men s singles 2012 Nagano Men s singles 2011 Nagano Men s singles 2015 Nagano Men s singles 2014 Nagano Men s singles 2013 Nagano Men s singles 2009 Nagano Men s singles 2008 Nagano Men s singles 2005 Nagano Men s singles Contents 1 Career 2 Training 3 Personal life 4 Awards and achievements 5 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics results 6 Popular culture 7 References 8 External linksCareer editKeshavan skied as a child and won the Junior National Ski Championship in 1995 at the age of 14 At the age of 15 he attended a luge camp at his school conducted by world champion Gunther Lemmerer 2 Keshavan was selected as a promising young athlete and went on to become the youngest person to ever officially qualify for the Olympic Games in luge attending the 1998 Nagano games at the age of 16 In 2014 Keshavan walked as an Independent Olympic Participant at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Sochi due to the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association However later on during the Sochi Winter Olympics Indian Olympic Association made a comeback as a recognized country by the International Olympic Committee resulting in Keshavan competing under the Indian flag Beginning in November 2014 Keshavan collaborated with Duncan Kennedy to train for 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Duncan acted as Keshavan s personal coach while leveraging his technical expertise to improve Keshavan s sled Keshavan qualified for his sixth and final Olympics in 2018 3 where he finished 34th out of 40 athletes in the men s singles event 4 In 2014 Shiva Keshavan became the founder president of the Olympians Association of India and is committed to support the Olympic movement in India Shiva now aims at promoting Winter Games in India and creating an ecosystem to produce more athletes competing at the highest level Training editIn 2002 the Italian luge team offered Keshavan full use of their coaches and training facilities if he competed under the Italian flag but he did not take the offer insisting he wanted to continue representing India 5 For me the dream was to get the Olympics to my hometown and that was the only reason I was doing it To show that we are also here Keshavan often speaks in interviews about his struggles to finance his career Early in his career he would borrow sleds for his races After landing in Montreal for the 2002 games he hitchhiked to Salt Lake City 3 In 2006 he did not compete for two seasons due to running out of funds 5 Keshavan gets most of his money from crowdfunding on the Internet and in the 2014 Sochi games his uniform bore the names of 50 000 donors 3 Personal life editKeshavan is the son of an Indian father from Kerala and an Italian mother who met while backpacking in the Himalayas in the 1970s His parents run an Italian restaurant in Himachal Pradesh 5 He was born and brought up in Manali Himachal Pradesh and attended The Lawrence School Sanawar 6 He married Namita Agarwal a former classmate at school who is also his sports manager The couple have a daughter He studied humanities and political science at the University of Florence and received a Master s degree in International relations from the University of Florence Keshavan spends time promoting the cause of winter sports in India a grassroots level luge camp was held in India by Keshavan in 2009 for young athletes interested in trying the sport 7 Ten were selected to form the Junior National Luge team to train in Japan Since then around 200 Indian children have attended his training camps and after retiring from competition Keshavan plans to focus on recruiting new Indian winter athletes 5 Awards and achievements editThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately Find sources Shiva Keshavan news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message Arjuna Award Government of India 2020 First Winter Sport athlete to win the award NDTV Outstanding performer of the year award winner 2012 Asian Luge cup Gold Medal 2011 amp 2012 Asian Luge cup Silver Medal 2009 Asian Luge cup Bronze Medal 2005 amp 2008 Youngest luge Olympian in history 1998 Winter Olympics First Indian luger to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games President of Olympians Association of India Member of Athletes Commission and Ethics Committee with Indian Olympic Association Member of State Sports Council Himachal Pradesh Past WADA Ambassador2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics results editAthlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Total Time Rankings Time Rankings Time Rankings Time Rankings Time Rankings Shiva Keshavan Men s singles 50 578 36 48 710 31 48 900 30 Eliminated 2 28 188 34Popular culture editKeshavan gained some fame after a training session during which he fell off his sled and yet managed to climb back on and complete the run the video of the training run was shared widely on the internet 8 9 10 References edit Olympians Olympians for Life website of the WOA OLYMPICS NAGANO 1998 Teen Age Luger Carries All of India New York Times 3 February 1998 a b c Bhatt Gaurav 14 January 2018 Shiva Keshavan India s lion in winter The Indian Express Noida Uttar Pradesh India Retrieved 14 January 2018 Luge Result Men s Singles Olympic org 11 February 2018 a b c d The Lonely Starry Eyed Mission of India s Sole Luger New York Times 1 February 2018 Retrieved 1 February 2018 Shiva Keshavan india today com Archived from the original on 24 February 2001 Bolan Kim 6 November 2009 Indian luger Shiva Keshavan defines makeshift for 2010 Games Vancouver Sun Archived from the original on 10 November 2009 Indian luger Shiva Keshavan crashes then makes amazing save NBCOlympics com Archived from the original on 7 February 2014 Retrieved 7 February 2014 Indian Luger Shiva Keshavan becomes overnight Sensation at Sochi IANS news biharprabha com Retrieved 8 February 2014 70 MPH 113 km h Luge Crash and Amazing Recovery Shiva Keshavan YouTube Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 External links editShiva Keshavan at FIL nbsp Shiva Keshavan at Olympics com nbsp Shiva Keshavan at Olympedia nbsp Winter Olympics Preceded byKishor Rahtna Rai nbsp Flag bearer for India1998 Nagano Succeeded byShiva Keshavan Preceded byShiva Keshavan nbsp Flag bearer for India2002 Salt Lake Succeeded byNeha Ahuja Preceded byNeha Ahuja nbsp Flag bearer for India2010 Vancouver Succeeded byShiva Keshavan Preceded byShiva Keshavan nbsp Flag bearer for India2018 Pyeongchang Succeeded byArif Khan Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Shiva Keshavan amp oldid 1219824023, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
