A cricketer once mentioned that playing in front of an empty crowd is probably one of the worst feelings as a player. No support from fans or indifference can lead to a drop in the performance of any athlete. But what about athletes who perform at the highest level of sports which not many are even aware of? How do they manage to sustain performance or even keep their interest going?
Take the example of Shiva Keshavan, India’s lone luger. Keshavan has quite a few distinctions to his name. He is the only Indian to win a gold medal at the Asia Cup, has competed in three Winter Olympics and has a medal to his name at the Asian Luge Championships and is seeded 42nd in the world. For the uninitiated, luge involves lying on a sled feet first and racing on icy slopes.
Born in Vashisht, a small village near Manali, Keshavan first heard of luge back in 1996, when the International Luge Federation (FIL) sent its official coach, Gunter Lemmerer, on a talent-search programme to India. A training camp was held at Panchkula, organised by the Indian Amateur Luge Association. Keshavan, at that point, was at Lawrence School, Sanawar, and went for the camp. The coach was impressed by what he saw and offered him a two-week training programme in Europe. It was then that Keshavan thought of taking it up as a professional sport. But why take up a sport knowing that not many people have even heard about it, and that there aren’t many places where he could practise? “I never wanted to take it up for fame or wealth,” he says. It was just for the love of the sport.
Not surprisingly, fame and wealth continued to elude him. Not that he has any regrets. For almost a decade of his professional life, Keshavan supported himself. It was only two years ago that he got some support from SwissAir International, and then made it to the Limca Book of Records. “It was frustrating, as I had to start from scratch, telling them about the sport,” he says. By the time he began to tell the sponsors about himself, he laughs, they had lost interest in the conversation. Luge is an expensive sport. The cost of luge gear runs into several lakhs.
Since the sport thrives where there’s enough snowfall, how does he manage to train in hot India? His training is divided into two phases: summer and winter. Summer training involves regular things like muscle toning and power training. He is into meditation as well to keep his concentration levels high. Winter training includes training on the tracks. Since each track is technically very different, sound knowledge of each is essential. “I will be in Japan for my winter training,” he says.
Keeping in mind that the sport rarely gets any mention in the media, is there any resentment on his part? “It’s every athlete’s dream to participate in the Olympic Games, and I have realised it not once or twice, but thrice; so there’s no question of resentment,” he says. Considering that he is more or less a pioneer in the sport, as far as India is concerned, it’s baffling that there hasn’t been much backing for his cause. So, Keshavan, who studied international relations and political science in Italy, plans to develop winter sports in the country.
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Anu Vaidyanathan is India’s only female triathlete. She was studying in the US when she thought of taking up the sport. Vaidyanathan says she used to feel extremely cold there during winter, so she took up cycling and running to keep herself warm as well as fit. Gradually, she warmed up to the idea of the sport. It was also easier to train in the US for all the three disciplines of the triathlon — swimming, cycling and running. Vaidyanathan has found it extremely difficult to continue in India. Too much traffic, too little time and zero help from the authorities; at one point it seemed that her dream had hit a dead end.
Vaidyanathan was the youngest athlete to finish the gruelling three-day Ironman Triathlon — 10 km of swimming and 144.8 km of cycling on day one followed by 273.5 km of cycling on day two and finally, running 84.3 km on day three.
Unlike Keshavan, she has had support from Timex, a brand she endorses. She is also the CEO of PatNMarts, her Bangalore-based company which deals with intellectual property management. Running a business and pursuing a sport which requires strenuous training is no easy task. How does she manage it? “With very little sleep,” Vaidyanathan confesses. Her day begins at 3.30 am and the next four hours are spent cycling and running. Then, she takes care of her professional commitments. Evenings are devoted to swimming. She says it’s tough to train on the crowded streets of Bangalore with people staring at her, especially when she’s on her bicycle.
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When in 2008, Wushu — a form of martial arts — got recognised as an Olympics sport, it gave Sandhya Rani a big lift. “I would have still continued to perform but knowing that there’s a chance to represent the country in the Olympics makes me work harder”. Rani used to be a boxer and even participated in the Asian Championships. A disagreement with her boxing coaches and “unfair treatment” made her shift to Wushu. “Martial arts always interested me,” says Rani who comes from a village in Manipur and took up the sport eight years ago. Her decision proved good when she won the silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games at Guangzhou. The medal also got her a job in CRPF. “It does help if you get support but you can understand why people don’t follow Wushu,” she says. It hasn’t been a deterrent for her.
Mir Mustasan, a rugby player from Kashmir, doesn’t care if people don’t play the sport or watch it. “This is not my profession, it’s my passion,” says Mustasan, 26, who has a law degree from Amity School of Law in Noida. He has played for the Indian national team in the rugby 7s and is aware that rugby will probably never be a top-tier sport in India. “When I started playing rugby in Kashmir, people thought we were hooligans as we didn’t have proper grounds,” he recalls. Mustasan plays for Delhi Lions, one of India’s best rugby clubs.
The lesser known stars of Indian sport continue to perform to their best of abilities. Do they want fame? No, says Vaidyanathan, but she would like her achievements to be at least known to the average educated Indian. Keshavan, on the other hand, feels it does help in keeping up the motivation levels. “But it’s a great matter of pride to just represent my country,” he sums up.