NEW DELHI (India): India’s only luge exponent Shiva Keshavan finally got his due after he was nominated for the Arjuna Award.
Keshavan has won 4 Asian Luge Gold medals, 6 Winter Olympics and close to 100 world cup races in a career spanning 24 years.
“He is the most decorated winter sports athlete that India has ever produced. It has been a very lonely run for him. Great to see his achievements finally getting the recognition they deserve,” wrote motorsports enthusiast and journalist Vivek Mukherjee on his FB post.
This year’s national sports awards have already landed itself in controversy given the unusually high number of Arjuna recommendations (29) besides an unprecedented five Khel Ratnas.
“It has not sunk in yet. I am honoured and humbled. It is massive news for me and I am really happy that it has finally happened,” Keshavan told Indian website Firstpost.
Shiva, the only international-level luger from India in over two decades, represented the country in six consecutive Winter Olympics, beginning from Japan’s Nagano in 1998 to PyeongChang in South Korea in 2018.
He retired from the sport after his sixth and final Olympics appearance two years back.
In 2012, the luge federation had sent Shiva’s name for the Arjuna Award, but he missed out. This time, he applied in the ‘self-nomination’ category that was due to Covid-19, but was not expecting to make the cut.
