No medals, but Indian Olympian won respect

Unlikely luge competitor likely facing swan song appearance in PyeongChang

Shiva Keshavan probably isn’t going to medal at the PyeongChang Olympics. But that doesn’t make him irrelevant.

His name gets heard once every four years, because of his story: A guy from India, where there is no great winter sports legacy to speak of, goes to the Olympics — to compete in luge of all things.

When he competes in PyeongChang, it’ll be his sixth and almost certainly final time as an Olympian. He’s never finished better than 25th, and that’s not likely to change this February.

Ask him if it was worth it, and he doesn’t hesitate before saying yes.

“I didn’t do this for other people to look at my story,” Keshavan said. “I did it for myself. I did it to improve myself and I feel that I’ve come a long way. Until now I’ve learned a lot, travelled the world, met people all over the world, and I’ve been privileged to do that. And, well, if other people look at me, I know they’ll respect me for what I did.”

Keshavan was 31st in a 35-slider Nations Cup event on Thursday night at Mount Van Hoevenberg, meaning he won’t be competing in Friday’s World Cup event. Only the top 15 from the Nations Cup advanced, and Keshavan wasn’t close.

But that doesn’t deter him, and never has. Keshavan’s attitude has been infectious among other sliders for years, and it’s clear he’ll be missed if this — as he expects — is the end of his Olympic journey.

“It really is kind of like a community that you’re a part of, and it’s something that’s really hard to let go,” said longtime USA Luge slider Chris Mazdzer.

Keshavan made his Olympic debut as a 16-year-old at Nagano in 1998, when he placed 28th. He’s been an Olympic regular ever since, never finishing anywhere near the medal stand — 33rd in Salt Lake City in 2002, 25th at Turin in 2006, 29th at Vancouver in 2010 and 37th at Sochi four winters ago.

He’s always been somewhere around five or 10 seconds behind the gold medallists in the final standings.

“I gave my best,” Keshavan said. “Maybe that’s the thing I want to be remembered for: He gave his best and he never gave up.”