Nagano, Jaoan: Shiva Keshavan, defending Champion won the silver medal, clocking a total time of 1:39:750 seconds for 2 heats in the 16th Edition of the Asia Cup which concluded in Nagano, Japan on Sunday..
Shiva, who was in good form, clocked the best start time and was leading in both runs until the mid section of the track, the 4th intermediate time. However, he lost the leading position in the last 2 splits to Japan’s Hidenari Kanayama. Kanayama won the Gold medal with a total time of 1:38:675 seconds. Shiva, however, retained his speed record at 134.3 kmph.
During 2 training weeks in Nagano, Shiva had been fine-tuning his equipment by making minor and major changes everyday and testing them. Shiva had struggled with the equipment setup all week and the runs during training were not up to the mark. Shiva had to deal with handling difficulties to maneuver the sled without fishtailing in the faster corners. However, at the very last official training before the competition, the final test-setup gave promising results and the handling improvements resulted in a 1.5 seconds faster run. With this ‘safe’ set-up he went into competition to ensure a podium finish.
“I am very happy to be bringing the Silver medal back to India. At one point we seemed far behind the competition but we kept making progress one small step at a time all week and kept fighting until the very last day. I am most satisfied that I managed to put down two solid runs on the race day and my start has been better than previous years. I seem to be losing a lot of time due to aerodynamics and some handling issues in the faster section but that is something that we will continue to work on. I want to thank my family, my sponsors, and all the people who have been constantly supporting me to have carried me this far,” said Shiva after the race.
The Silver Medal at the Asia Cup has ended the 2013 season on a high note after what has been the most challenging competition Season yet for Shiva. This is a remarkable achievement considering that Shiva is competing against teams with technologically superior equipment, coaching and not to mention training facilities.
Earlier this year, the Sports Minister Mr. Jitendra Singh had pledged support to Shiva and sanctioned funds under the National Sports Development Scheme to help Shiva take part in some international competitions. However full support has not been possible as there is no recognized National Sport Federation. Shiva has been supported by Olympic Gold Quest and has found corporate backing with MTS, Coca Cola India and Swiss International Airlines.
As the Olympic Winter Games in 2014 are coming closer, Shiva contemplated on his future prospects: “There is no doubt that we can do much better internationally. This race made us identify our strengths and the areas that need improvement. The good news is that we have a clear understanding of what we need to win an Olympic Medal so we can work towards that goal. The challenge is achieving it without a full-time coach or a full year budget for the required training”.
Shiva will be competing in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, his 5th Olympic participation so far.
