India's first Winter Olympian, Shiva Keshavan, on Monday urged the authorities to come forward and help the athletes who are left to battle all odds in their quest to bring laurels to the country. Taking part in a panel discussion under the banner 'International Convention on Business of Sports', organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, the youngest ever athlete to officially qualify for the Olympic Games in luge said, "We sportsmen are always very altruistic. We focus so much on doing well in our respective disciplines that nothing else matters to us. But, the government should come forward and help us nonetheless." The 34-year-old athlete from Manali took part as an independent participant in 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics due to the suspension of Indian Olympic Association (IOA). However, as the ban was lifted while the Games were still on, he ended up competing under the Indian flag. "I have taken part in five Winter Olympics without a coach. I always wanted to be trained under a good coach. But later, I realised that I wasted a lot of time chasing a lot of things," said Keshavan who finally found a coach in American Duncan Kennedy but had to part ways after a short stint due to financial constraints. "The government was only paying for a part of his (Kennedy's) salary," he said.
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