Luge

NEW DELHI, India - Shiva Keshavan wants cricket-crazy India to notice him at the Winter Olympics - and he has some of the country's finest lawyers to argue his case.

The Indian media's obsession with bat and ball has meant that Keshavan, 28, has gone virtually unnoticed despite having taken part in three Olympics as a luge exponent.

He almost missed his fourth appearance at the Games starting in Vancouver next week when his sled broke during pre-Olympic training just days prior to his departure for the Canadian city.

Luckily, lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayan took note of Keshavan's predicament and approached top colleagues at the Supreme Court to help the determined young man achieve his goal.

Five legal luminaries - Kottayan Venugopal, Abhishek Singhvi, Rohinton Nariman, Mukul Rohatgi and Nageswara Rao - pooled 450,000 rupees (10,000 dollars) towards buying new equipment for Keshavan.

"I think it is a wonderful gesture from the legal community towards the development of Indian sport," Sankaranarayan said.

"Keshavan's story as an Indian Winter Olympian is unique and he is a great example of what can be achieved with hard work and a will to succeed.

"I spoke to a few senior lawyers in Delhi and they readily took out their cheque books and contributed."
Keshavan was understandably moved by the lawyers' generosity.

"I am immensely grateful for the support I have received from these gentlemen," he said. "I hope to make them and the country proud at the Games."

Keshavan admitted he has struggled to pursue his passion in a country where cricket rules.

"Cricket is big in India, but that does not mean everyone must only play cricket," he told AFP in an earlier interview.

When Keshavan went for his first Olympics in Nagano, Japan in 1998 as a 16-year-old, he competed with a borrowed sled, an oversized jacket and ill-fitting shoes.
At the last Turin Games in 2006, Keshavan finished 25th, but he is under no illusions that a medal is his for the taking in Vancouver.

"I may not win a medal, but I take a lot of satisfaction from the fact that I have paved the path for the new generation of athletes who want to make a name in winter sports.

"I hope the country notices my achievements."

Keshavan, who hails from the southern state of Kerala, took up winter sports while studying international relations at the University of Florence in Italy.

He now resides and trains in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, on the foothills of the Himalayas and the home of winter sports in the country.

"I was offered Italian citizenship, but I refused because I am an Indian and want to spend my life here," he said. "So what if they don't know what a luge is."

Keshavan hopes the luge will no more be confined to only a quiz question in India when his televised event gets underway in Vancouver on February 13 and 14.