Five-time Olympian and the poster boy of winter sports in India, Shiva Keshavan has been forced to pull out of the Luge World Championships in Germany and Luge World Cup circuit due to lack of funds.
Shiva Keshavan’s statementIndia will be conspicuous in its absence in the Luge World Championships and the Luge World Cup circuit for the first time in 20 years. This is because the Indian team has pulled out of the remainder of the international circuit because it has not been funded.
Despite writing to the Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their intervention, the 34-year-old luger has also been forced to let go off the services of his coach Duncan Kennedy.
Keshavan recently won a silver medal at the Asian Luge Championships. He also has two gold medals in the Asia Cup and was the first Indian to qualify for the Winter Olympics.
The World Luge Championships is scheduled to be held later this month.
The luger said that his coach Kennedy decided to quit as he has not been paid his full salary in 2015. Kennedy, a holder of 21 world titles and former technical director of the USA luge team, had begun working with Shiva in 2014 and strongly believed that the Indian team had the ability to bring more laurels to the country.
Duncan Kennedy, Keshavan’s Former CoachI am amazed and surprised at how a country like India cannot come up with money to pay the expenses of a five-time Olympian. Shiva is such a great ambassador for India. His dedication to his country and his sport, his international performance and his conduct has brought India much glory and admiration wherever he has taken the Indian flag. I already knew some of the difficulties Indian athletes face due to funding, but no professional coach can work without being paid.
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