A Luge ( /ˈluːʒ/) is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms (46-55 lbs.) for singles and 25-30 kilograms (55-66 lbs.) for doubles. Luge is also the name of an Olympic sport. Of the three Olympic sliding sports, which include bobsleigh and skeleton, luge is the fastest and most dangerous. Lugers can reach speeds of 140 km per hour (87 mph). The Guinness World Record is held by Tony Benshoof of the United States who achieved a speed of 139.9 km per hour (86.93 mph). One athlete, Manuel Pfister of Austria, reached a top speed of 154 km per hour (95.69 mph) on the track in Whistler, Canada prior to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Street luge is a recent innovation of the sport. Although it is considered an extreme sport, it is not yet an Olympic sport.

Lugers compete against a timer and are timed to a thousandth of a second, making luge one of the most precisely timed sports in the world. The first recorded use of the term "luge" is 1905, from the Savoy/Swiss dialect of French "luge" meaning "small coasting sled", and is possibly from a Gaulish word with the same root as English sled.

Shiva Keshavan (full name Shiva Keshavan K P; born August 25, 1981) is the first Indian representative to compete in luge at the Winter Olympic Games. He set a new Asian speed record at 134.3 kmph after beating previous record of 131.9 kmph and won gold medal in Asia Cup 2011 at Nagano in Japan.

Keshavan is the son of an Indian father from the state of Kerala and an Italian mother. He was born and brought up in the Himalayas (growing up in Manali, Himachal Pradesh) and attended The Lawrence School Sanawar. He is married to Namita Agarwal, a former classmate at Sanawar, who is also his sports manager.

He studied humanities and political science from 'Cesare Alfieri' University of Florence and received a Master's degree in International relations from the University of Florence. He picked up luge when he was selected at a Training Camp in Himachal, at the age of 15.

He resides and trains in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, on the foothills of the Himalayas and the home of winter sports in the country. He was (in his words), "offered to represent Italy" in 2002, but refused because "I am an Indian and want to contribute to the country that I was born in".