India’s seasoned Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan braved an injury to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Luge Championship Nagano, Japan on Friday.
Keshavan dominated the event and finished the 2 heat race with a time of 1 minute, 39.962 seconds and top speed of 130.4 km/h.
Japan’s Tanaka Shohei came in second with a combined time of 1:44.874 seconds and top speed of 124.6 kmph.
The bronze medal was claimed by Chinese Taipei’s Lien Te-An, who clocked 1:45.120 with a 126.3 kmph top speed
It was a turnaround of sports for Keshavan who had a tumultuous lead up to the event at the Spiral Olympic Track.
Earlier this week, after clocking the best time in training, Keshavan suffered a crash at over 130km/h in which he broke his sled, suffered tendon damage on his left foot and missed part of the official training.
Shiva’s story of success in his sport has always been a case fighting against the odds. Earlier this year, Shiva was forced to withdraw from the 2016 World Championships due to lack of funds.
“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. I want to express my deepest gratitude to all my supporters and sponsors without whom I would not have been able to get back on track and win this medal for India,” Shiva said.
Shiva is slated to take part in the 2017 World Championship in Innsbruck, Austria and will compete in the World Cup circuit in the lead up to the qualification process for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Korea.
Featured image: Shiva Keshavan / Twitter