Vancouver: Embroiled in a uniform controversy, Shiva Keshavan faired poorly on the field as he finished a disappointing 29th in the disaster-hit men's luge event of the Winter Olympics.
Keshavan clocked overall 3:18.473 after four runs to finish 29th out of the 38 athletes, who completed the competition at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
The Indian, who finished 25th in the last edition in 2006 in Turin, was 31st after the first run. He improved to 28th after the second run but slipped to 29th after the third.
Felix Loach of Germany won the event in overall time of 2:24.914. He led the field in all the four runs of the event that was held in the backdrop of the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during practice.
Keshavan's campaign was too marred by controversy as he and his father, here as a coach, had appeared in attire different from the other Indian members in the opening ceremony, claiming that the country's contingent in the Winter Olympics did not have coordinated uniform.
The incident led to the Indian expatriates to raise USD 8000 as fund for uniforms for the Indian athletes.
Chef-de-mission R K Gupta, however, dismissed the allegation and rejected the money, insisting that the team had uniforms provided by the ministry.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 15, 2010, 21:01