The Nepalese Olympic Team
Nepal may be a small country with a reputation for rural villages and large mountains, but that has not stopped it from getting involved in the Olympics. This year at the 2008 Summer Olympics, no less than eight different athletes will be representing their homeland in the bright and colorful city of Beijing. They were carefully selected by the official Nepalese Olympic Committee (NOC) for their excellence in their particular sporting fields.
Like the country, the Nepalese Olympic Team is small, but it’s got heart and the athletes chosen to represent their homeland will be doing their utmost to do Nepal proud. They will be competing in athletics, judo, shooting, swimming and taekwondo. The original team also featured Kamal Bahadur Adhikari as a weightlifter in the men’s division, but unfortunately Adhikari failed to qualify for the event. Nevertheless he can still carry his head high for having made it as far as what he did. No doubt, some of the remaining team members have already taken part in their relevant events during the first week of the Olympics.
When we look at the Nepalese Olympic Team, we see a diverse array of sporting talent from around the country. Competing in the athletic events are Ajun Basnet and Kamala Thapa. They are joined by Debu Thapa (-63 kg), representing her country in the women’s judo. She will be in good company with Maya Kyapchaki who will be competing in the women’s 10 m air rifle shooting event. Karishma Karki and Prasiddha Jung Shah will be taking to the water to participate in the swimming events, while Deepak Bista (-80kg) will be representing his country in taekwondo. All these remaining athletes no doubt feel incredibly privileged to have been selected to represent their beautiful country at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Since they first participated in the Olympics in 1964, Nepal has been present at ten Summer Games and 2 Winter Games. 2008 marks their 11th year of participation in the Summer Olympics, and of course, the team has every hope of bringing home a medal. The last time Nepal shined at the games was in 1988 when Bidhan Lama won Bronze in taekwondo. Unfortunately it was just an exhibition sport at the time and so he is not considered to be an official medal winner.