Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan seek to become IOC Athletes’ Commission member

Star Indian luger Shiva Keshavan will stand for the International Olympic Committees’ Athletes Commission election. It will be held during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Shiva Keshavan, 40, is one of the 17 candidates approved to fill in two vacant places of the IOC’s Athletes Commission.

“Ten female and seven male athletes from 17 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), six sports and five continents will compete for the two vacant seats on the Commission. They have been nominated by their respective NOCs, together with their NOC Athletes’ Commissions,” he IOC said in a statement.

Indian Olympic Association Secretary General Rajeev Mehta confirmed that it had nominated Shiva Keshavan for the vacancy.

The Himachal Pradesh-born Luger will be India’s torch bearer at the Winter Olympics.

“Yes, the IOA had nominated Shiva Keshavan for the IOC Athletes Commission. He is the most deserving athlete as far as Winter Olympics is concerned,” Mehta was quoted by PTI as saying.

Who is Shiva Keshavan?

Shiva Keshavan is a six-time Winter Olympian. He has been representing the country at the Winter Olympics in luge men’s singles since the 1998 Nagano Games in Japan. He was also the Asian champion in 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017. In addition to this, Shiva Keshwan holds the Asian record in luge.

At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, he and cross-country skiier Jagdish Singh represented India.

Serving as a link between the athletes and the IOC, the Commission is composed of a maximum of 23 members (12 members directly elected by their peers and a maximum of 11 appointed), who serve a term of eight years.

An election is held at every edition of the Olympic Games, with four members chosen at each Summer Games, and two at each Winter Games.

The elected athletes will replace current IOC AC member Hayley Wickenheiser (Canada) and fill the vacancy caused by Ole Einar Bjorndalen’s (Norway) resignation in 2016.