Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan says athletes resorting to crowd funding due to lack of funds

Keshavan tweeted that not a single winter sports federation is currently recognised and eligible for funding which has lead to athletes doing online crowd funding for 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Star Indian luger Shiva Keshavan has drawn attention of the government towards the plight of the country's 2022 Winter Olympics aspirants, saying they have resorted to crowd funding due to lack of financial support.

The Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from February 4-20 next year.

There are 150 days left for the Winter Olympics.
A reminder to the government that not a single winter sports federation is currently recognised and eligible for funding in India.
Athletes are doing crowdfunding online!@ianuragthakur@PMOIndia@Media_SAI

— Shiva Keshavan, OLY (@100thofasec) September 8, 2021

 

"There are 150 days left for the Winter Olympics. A reminder to the government that not a single winter sports federation is currently recognised and eligible for funding in India," Keshavan tweeted.

"Athletes are doing crowdfunding online!," he added.

The 40-year-old Keshavan is a six-time Olympian and India's flag-bearer in the Winter Olympics.

He has been taking part in the Winter Olympics in luge men's singles since the 1998 Nagano Games in Japan.

He was also the Asian champion in 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017 and holds the Asian record in luge.

In the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Keshavan and cross country skier Jagdish Singh represented India.