Shiva Keshavan cannot help feeling that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
India's sole luge athlete, Shiva Keshavan has qualified for the Winter Olympics to be held in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi from February 7 to 23.
Despite a crash in training that hampered his preparation, India's five-time Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan put in a dominating performance to clinch the gold medal at the Asian Luge Championship in Nagano.
The 36-year-old Keshavan, the country's best known Winter Olympian, will be taking part in his sixth Games since his debut at Nagano in Japan in 1998. Since then he has represented the country in the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
Five-time Olympian and poster boy of winter sports in India, Shiva Keshavan pulled out of the Luge World Championships in Germany and Luge World Cup circuit due to 'lack of funds'.
Shiva Keshavan wants to overcome a recent injury and end his international career with a flourish during the Pyeongchang Games, starting this week.
The Indian Olympic Association's athletes commission chairperson and boxing legend M C Mary Kom on Tuesday denied reports that she has resigned from her position.
Six-time World Champion Mary Kom, bronze medallist at the 2012 London Olympics, will be assisted by luger Shiva Keshavan, who has been appointed the deputy chef de mission.
From bearing the expenses of their ceremonial clothing to daily allowances of $50 per day, the sports ministry on Tuesday said it has spent around Rs 7.4 lakh on the eight-member Indian contingent at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
The IOA had announced her appointment on March 21.
Trouble is brewing in the Indian camp at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver with majority of the contingent denying luger Shiva Keshavan's claim that the team didn't have coordinated uniform for the opening ceremony and rejecting the money raised by the Indian diaspora.
Chopra expressed his disappointment a day after Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha came down heavily on the wrestlers for hitting the streets to resume their protests instead of approaching its athletes' commission to lodge their complaints against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The Athletes Commission of the IOA has recommended the national Olympic body to put systems in place to deal with issues of the players "with respect and dignity" in the light of the protest by India's top wrestlers.
Trudeau, along with his wife Sophie Gregoire, presented Canada's ice hockey jerseys to the budding Indian girls team during the event at the Canadian High Commission.
FICCI and Coca Cola India felicitated four Indian Olympians for their outstanding achievement as part of the launch of the 2008 edition of the Limca Book of Records.
PT Usha set to get elected as IOA chief, first woman occupant of top job
India's Shiva Keshavan registered a respectable 25th place finish on his maiden entry into the Luge World Cup finals at the Olympic Sliding Center in Lake Placid in New York, on Saturday.
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.
Shiva Keshavan reveals why he feels 'stabbed in the back' after giving his all for the country for 20 years and what keeps him going despite all the recent problems affecting him.
