India in Winter games

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Re: India in Winter games

Post by prasen9 »

I do not like the "participate and be happy" policy. My philosophy is that if you cannot win (at least eventually), then it is pointless to go. I can understand a long-term strategy of participating to build a team that will win in 12-15 years. In that case, it may be okay to have say a swimmer go to a major meet. At least, they may have some chance somtime, the younger ones at least. But, I do not think we have any form of planned participation in the winter olympics and have no chance in the next couple of decades unless we get someone who essentially trains abroad and "represents" India. I hate to be just there to increase the numbers.

I don't follow golf and I do not follow the winter olympics. Some winter olympic sports certainly has more athleticism than golf and are incredibly hard to master. I have tried skiing and ice-skating and personally like to do both especially with my daughter, but following sports-people in these areas seems to be boring to me. Beauty being in the eyes of the beholder and all that, I suppose. And besides, man largely does not live on snow. Hence, recreation on snow is under my radar.
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Re: India in Winter games

Post by PKBasu »

The winter Olympics are a waste of time for India. Creditable that Shiva Kesavan keeps turning up, and good that we have some Ladakhis/Sikkimese(?) turning up now, but it is a long stretch for us to be competitive in an expensive activity that is virtually impossible for Indians to normally participate in.
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Re: India in Winter games

Post by ankit1407 »

WOw great news

Shiva Keshavan wins Asia Cup gold, sets record

News report

"India’s flag-bearer on ice, Shiva Keshavan, claimed the first ever gold medal for the country in a major international winter sports event on Sunday, winning the Asia Cup luge title with a new continental speed record in Nagano, Japan on Sunday. Keshavan pushed the Asian speed record to 134.3 kph, eclipsing the previous mark of 131.9 kph by some margin. The Indian displayed red hot form to push reigning champion Takahisa Oguchi of Japan to second spot. The 30-year-old is also the first non-Japanese to win the prestigious title. Keshavan clocked 50.162 seconds in the first run, which was only 0.09 seconds off the track record, and then 50.221 seconds in the second. He returned an overall timing of 1:40:383, ahead of Oguchi’s aggregate of 1:40.861.

He had previously claimed the accolade of the fastest man in Asia, at the Vancouver Olympics last year. The victory should be doubly sweet for Keshavan, who at the age of 16 became the youngest ever luge Olympian when he took part in the 1998 Winter Olympics, also held in Nagano.

Keshavan, who has often struggled for sponsorship since he began chasing international recognition in his early teens, was delighted: “It was a fantastic race, I’m very happy to have won the gold for India and thank all my supporters back home. I’m grateful to my sponsors, MTS and Reebok, who made my participation possible. “I know I can perform even better, and hope to break the remaining track records next time.”
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Re: India in Winter games

Post by kna »

That's great news. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Ankit.

Shiva Keshavan is a perfect example of how perseverance pays off. I hope this leads to some more sponsorship deals for him.

Hopefully, this will inspire some more kids to take up some Winter Olympic sports in India. I know that facilities and coaches are almost non-existent, but maybe Shiva can put his experience to good use to mentor some aspiring athletes.
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Re: India in Winter games

Post by jayakris »

How many Indians hold Asian records right now, anyway, in any sports? Shiva is absolutely a pioneer. Can't believe that he is still not 30 ... And he has been to 4 Olympics already! I toll hope that this kind of news would help a few more people to take some winter sports. At some point in the future, we could have a good number of athletes at the winter Olympics, and may be even some contendors. It may be a 10-15 years later, but it could all happen. Everybody will remember the young boy who held a flag and walked alone as "the Indian contingent" back in 1998 at the Olympics.

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Re: India in Winter games

Post by Varma »

That's really amazing news. Talk about perseverance and believing in one-self. To prepare himself for his winter olympics debut, as a 16 year old kid he was practicing on downhill concrete streets with home made equipment and no safety gear. As risky as it was, nothing could beat that kind of passion. Many would have become content with being the first participant at such a mega event as olympics. But this guy kept going on and on despite no support. I really wish for an olympic medal of any hue for this guy. He is the real "Bharata Ratna" in my eyes.

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Re: India in Winter games

Post by Prashant »

What a great story - I used to follow this guy a while ago & had forgotten about him. Ankit - thanks for posting this.
I don't know if luge guys, or any winter sport guys for that matter, mature at an earlier or later age. Is he hitting his prime now?
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Re: India in Winter games

Post by jaydeep »

Wow, congratulation Shiva for this huge achievement ... Thanks Ankit for sharing with us.
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Re: India in Winter games

Post by indiansportsfan »

Searched all over the internet. Didn't find any reference to "Asia Cup luge" or "winter games japan" that was relevant, other than Keshavan's story in Indian newspapers. What is this event?
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Re: India in Winter games

Post by RohitG »

I've been following Shiva since 2010 but he hardly gets "any" mention in the media except for a couple of times like when he won the Asian medal. OGQ is supporting Shiva and being the only *consistently reasonable* performer in winter sports from India, I believe that is a good step. I think there's a rule which states that the top-40 ranked lugers in the world qualify for the event. Now even a fraction of a second makes a difference (more than 10 places) and its the equipment that matters too. Shiva will go for his 5th one at Sochi 2014. He'll be 32-33 and I wonder if he'll go for a sixth. It's a shame that if things don't fall into place, a passionate guy like him will have to compete under the Olympic flag. I mean, why do all this when he could have just represented Italy (and the talent that he is, he could have won a medal)
This guy deserves more.

Need of funds
Lugers compete against a timer and are timed to a thousandth of a second - one of the most precisely timed sports where technology plays a huge role. Other National Luge Teams have collaborations with Formula 1 teams—UK with McLaren, Italy with Ferrari, Germany with BMW while NASA supports the USA Olympic team. Shiva's team has just four passionate friends. It begs me to ask the question: Is there a reason for a country like India to lag behind in technology, given that we have just sent a mission to Mars?


Dodging goats
This made some news today and even the main Olympic facebook page shared about Shiva.

In fact they have posted a video about him on their official youtube page. I hope you guys watch it.
Shiva Keshavan - Himalayan Highway Luge Training|Athlete Profiles

Perhaps we could have a thread for Shiva Keshavan and for Sochi 2014 (although there's time for it) if the moderators agree.
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Re: Sochi 2014 winter Olympics

Post by Sandeep »

Very embarrassing http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/wal ... story.html

India has three participants, one as we all know Shiva Keshavan and two skiers Nadeem Iqbal in cross country skiing and Himanshu Thakur in Alpine Skiing. None of the three are medal prospects though.
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Re: Sochi 2014 winter Olympics

Post by kujo »

Indian luger Shiva Keshavan crashes, then makes amazing save - See more at: http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/indian ... 1HDwN.dpuf

Shiva Keshavan, a 31-year-old luge athlete participating in his fifth Olympic Games, falls off his sled but manages to remain calm and regain control to finish his practice run.

Keshavan, who hails from India but will be racing under the Olympic flag because of his home country's suspension by the IOC, has already achieved a measure of viral fame due to his use of a Himalayan highway as a training track.

There are no rules about falling off a sled and completing a run, so Keshavan's time of 1:01.64 during his training run is recorded as official in the session's results.
Crash? What crash?
Indian luger Shiva Keshavan fell off his sled, then somehow got back on it and kept going like nothing ever happened.
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Re: Sochi 2014 winter Olympics

Post by kujo »

And Shiva's amazing save is the banner video on the NBC's Olympics video home page! Neat, hopefully he gets some more sponsors...
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/unorth ... -news-desk

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Re: Sochi 2014 winter Olympics

Post by jayakris »

^^^ Fixed the URL of the Shiva Keshavan video. MUST see video of his road practice under trucks and stuff. Mod, Jay
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Re: Sochi 2014 winter Olympics

Post by kujo »

Indeed, very embarrassing to see Shiva under the IOC flag instead of the Indian flag. Nepal (the only non-rectangle flag in the ceremony) and the bug country were having athletes under their country's flag.
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