India's Shiva Keshavan defends Asian Luge Championship title to win fourth gold

Having recently qualified for his sixth Olympic Games in a row, Shiva Keshavan successfully defended his Asian Luge Championship title on Friday. The competition, which is being held at the artificial track in Altenberg in Germany, saw the Indian star being crowned Champion of Asia once again, having lifted the title last year in Nagano, Japan as well.

The Asian Championship was being held in Altenberg in line with the Nation's Cup due to technical reasons. Keshavan finished in first place ahead of Te-An Lien from Chinese Taipei and Doung Kyu Kang from South Korea, who clinched the silver and bronze medal respectively.

Keshavan shared the news of his victory on Twitter as well, where he announced his title win and stated that he was proud to represent India. He also added that more details about his victory will be announced by him soon.

Keshavan is the Asian speed record holder as well, having clocked a mark of 134.3 km/h in 2011. This is the Indian's fourth gold at the continental level as well, having won the same in 2011, 2012 and 2016. To add to these, he has four silvers and two bronze medals at the Asian level in what has been a truly glittering career.

In November, he had also secured a berth in the 2018 Winter Olympics which will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He clocked a timing of 51.913 seconds at the 1300-metre event, finishing in 23rd place and thus securing the five points that are necessary to qualify for the Olympics.

He is the only Indian to have qualified for the prestigious quadrennial so far and will become just the second athlete from the nation along with Leander Paes to have competed in six Olympic Games.