Shiva Keshavan is walking in a light snow drizzle in Altenberg, Germany, as he speaks to us over the phone. This is a day before he won the gold at the Asian Luge Championships in Altenberg and will soon head off for more races in Canada and the US. All this could be seen as prep for the Olympics in February. "Luge racing is fiercely competitive since it's the only sport in the world that is timed to the 1,000th of a second. To qualify, you have to be in and around 7 per cent of the best time. But it's pretty close! I once finished 22nd, and I was only 7/10th second behind the winner." Keshavan, who was discovered at 15 in Manali, where he was born and raised, by a group of international luge coaches, went on to qualify for the Olympics at 16. Since then, he has also remained India's only professional luger. He has won five Olympic medals and set multiple luge records.

Shiva Keshavan training in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. pic/Red Bull Content Pool