Shiva Keshavan

Nagano (Japan): Indian veteran Shiva Keshavan overcame injuries to bag a well-deserved gold medal at the Asian Luge Championship here on Friday. Keshavan, who earlier this week suffered a crash at over 130km/h in which he broke his sled and suffered tendon damage on his left foot during training, dominated the event and finished the 2 heat race with a time of one minute, 39.962 seconds and top speed of 130.4 km/h.

It was a turnaround of events for Keshavan who had a tumultuous led up to the event at the Spiral Olympic Track as he once again showed his mettle at the Asian competition. Japan’s Tanaka Shohei came in second with a combined time of one minute, 44.874 seconds and top speed of 124.6 kmph. The bronze medal went to Chine Taipei’s Lien Te-An who clocked one minute, 45.120 seconds with a 126.3 km/h top speed.

“I was determined to not let anything deter me from the gold medal this time. So despite all the obstacles I decided to risk everything in the race,” the five-time Winter Olympian said. “I want to express my deepest gratitude to all my supporters and sponsors Mallcom Ltd, Hero Electronix, Hero Fincorp and Micromax, without whom I would not have been able to get back on track and win this medal for India,” added Keshavan, who was forced to withdraw from the 2016 World Championships due to lack of funds.

He is slated to take part in the 2017 World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria, and is taking part in the World Cup circuit in the lead up to the qualification process for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea.