Spicy Runnings: How India’s Luge Athlete Trains for the Olympics

Indian luge athlete Shiva Keshavan was first introduced to the sport as a teen—when he was shown some luge videos, followed by a screening of Cool Runnings—and quickly picked it up. Now he’s the country’s main medal hope at the Winter Olympics which start in Sochi next month.

There are no luge tracks in India on which to practice, so Keshavan has had to be creative about his training. Replacing the blades on his sled with wheels, he takes advantage of the steep, winding highways in the Himalayan foothills. Traffic? No problem. Man herding sheep? No problem. Just don’t try this on a road near you.