Shiva Keshavan, (born 25 August 1981) is a six-time Olympian and the first Indian representative to compete in

luge A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for s ...

at the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

. He set a new

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n speed record at after beating the previous record of and won a gold medal in the 2011 Asian Luge Cup at

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

in Japan. In 2012, he set a new Asian track record at 49.590 seconds. He is the reigning Asian Champion.

Career

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 Günther Lemmerer (born 4 April 1952, in Graz) was an Austrian luger who competed in the early 1980s. He won the gold medal in the men's doubles event at the 1982 FIL European Luge Championships in Winterberg, West Germany. Competing in two Win ...

. 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 Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

opening ceremony in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

due to the suspension of the

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international athletic meets and for managing the Indian teams ...

. 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, where he finished 34th out of 40 athletes in the men's singles event. 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

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. "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 Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. In 2006, he did not compete for two seasons due to running out of funds. Keshavan gets most of his money from

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

on the Internet and in the 2014 Sochi games, his uniform bore the names of 50,000 donors.

Personal life

Keshavan is the son of an Indian father from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

mother, who met while backpacking in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

in the 1970s. His parents run an Italian restaurant in

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

. He was born and brought up in

Manali, Himachal Pradesh Manali is a town, near Kullu town in Kullu district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated in the northern end of the Kullu Valley, formed by the Beas River. The town is located in the Kullu district, approximately north of t ...

and attended

The Lawrence School, Sanawar The Lawrence School, Sanawar, is the oldest Co-Ed boarding school in the world near Solan city. Established in 1847, its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious and oldest schools in Asia. It is located in the ...

. He married Namita Agarwal, a former classmate at school, who is also his sports manager. The couple have a daughter. He studied

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

and received a Master's degree in

International relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

from the

. 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. 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.

Awards and achievements

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

, 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 & 2012 * Asian Luge cup – Silver Medal, 2009 * Asian Luge cup – Bronze Medal, 2005 & 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 Ambassador

2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics results

Popular culture

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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keshavan, Shiva 1981 births Indian male lugers Indian people of Italian descent Living people Lugers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic lugers of India Lawrence School, Sanawar alumni Lugers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Himachal Pradesh People from Manali, Himachal Pradesh Recipients of the Arjuna Award