Shiva Keshavan is an Indian Athlete to play luge and he is the first Indian in Olympics in 2014.
Early Life of Shiva Keshavan
Shiva Keshavan was born on August 25th in the year 1981. Shiva Keshavan picked up luge when he was selected at a training camp in Himachal Pradesh at the age of 15 years. Keshavan won the Junior National Ski Championship in 1995 at the age of 14 years. 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. Shiva Keshavan attended a luge camp conducted by world champion Gunther Lemmerer. 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.
Career of Shiva Keshavan
Shiva Keshavan is a five times Olympian and the first Indian representative to compete in luge at the Winter Olympic Games. Shiva Keshavan 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 gold medal in Asia Cup 2011 at Nagano in Japan. In 2012, he set a new Asian track record at 49.590 seconds.
International Career of Shiva Keshavan
Shiva Keshavan was offered to represent Italy in 2002, but refused. In 2014, Shiva 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. In November 2014, Shiva Keshavan collaborated with Duncan Kennedy to train for 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics. Duncan will act as Keshavan"s personal coach while leveraging his technical expertise to improve Keshavan"s sled.
Personal Life of Shiva Keshavan
Shiva Keshavan is the son of an Indian father Sudhakaran Keshavan from Kerala and an Italian mother, Rosalba Keshavan. He was born and brought up in Manali, Himachal Pradesh and attended Lawrence School, Sanawar. Shiva Keshavan married Namita Agarwal, a former classmate at school, who is also his sports manager.
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