Shiva Keshavan gets state government's support to set up India's first training centre for winter sports

What's the story?

Indian Olympian Shiva Keshavan tweeted today about the support of his home state Himachal Pradesh for the setting up of an Olympic training centre and academy for the Winter Games.

In case you didn't know...

Shiva Keshavan is a six-time Winter Olympian and became India's first representative in the Luge competition at the Winter Olympic Games. He is a 10-time Asian medalist that includes five gold medals with the most recent one being at the 2017 Altenberg Games, where he retained his title in the Men's Singles Luge event.

The heart of the matter

Shiva Keshavan met with the Himachal Pradesh Sports Minister Mr. Govind Singh Thakur and posted on his Twitter account about the state government's assured support for the creation of India's first Winter Olympic Games Training Center and Academy.

Shiva Keshavan first competed in the Winter Olympic Games back in 1998 when they were held in Nagato, Japan becoming the youngest luge Olympian in history. He has gone on to represent India in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and the most recently concluded 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Keshavan finished with a rank of 34 in the Men's Singles Luge event in Pyeongchang. His best finish was in the Turin 2016 Winter Games when he finished in the 25th rank.

What's next?

Keshavan has been a long-time proponent of the cause of winter sports in India and this initiative of setting up an Olympic training centre and academy is a huge part of it.

Author's take

Keshavan has been the sole name and face of Winter Games in India and his drive in improving the awareness for winter sports in India is worthy of appreciation. The setting up of the training centre and academy shows his efforts bearing fruit.