Rio de Janeiro, August 11 Athlete Saraswati Bhattarai will be aiming to break the national record in women's 1,500m heats of the Olympic Games here at the Olympic Stadium on Friday. The 23-year-old athlete from Tribhuvan Army Club is participating in the Olympics under Universality Places along with middle-distance runner Hari Kumar Rimal. The 42 athletes competing in the event have been divided in three groups of 14 each and Bhattarai is in Heat1. Top six each from three heat rounds and next six best athletes will qualify for semi-finals. Her best timing in 1,500m race is four minutes and 40.03 seconds which she got during the 12th South Asian Games. Raj Kumari Pandey holds the national record in 1,500m with the timing of 4.34.47 set in the Beijing Asian Games in 1990. And she plans to beat her own mark. 'Olympic Games is the biggest stage for any athlete,' said Bhattarai, who hails from Dadeldhura district. 'As I have got the opportunity to represent the country at such a huge platform, I will try to give my best and leave a mark. I will put all my efforts in breaking the national record. If not, I will definitely improve my personal best timing,' she added. Bhattarai said the preparation for the Games went well and that she had trained hard for the Games. 'I have put in a lot of efforts for the Games and the training was satisfactory,' added Bhattarai, who entered into athletics through President's Running Shield eight years ago. She then participated in district and regional events before making her national championship debut one year later. She had taken part in 1,500m and 3,000m events in her first national championship in 2010. After participating in 800m and 1,500m races in the sixth National Games in Dhangadhi, Bhattarai bagged gold medals in both the events in the 39th National Athletics Championships. She also bagged silver medal in 800m race at the Thailand Open last year. Although she started playing athletics eight years ago, it's been three years she joined the Army club. She was in Nepal's squad in the 12th South Asian Games held in India earlier this year. She set her personal best time in 1,500m apart from taking part in 800m race in Guwahati. Coach Pushpa Raj Ojha was confident that Bhattarai would do her best at Rio. 'I am sure that she will get a new record in Olympics,' said Ojha, who participated in 1984 Olympic Games. 'She has worked hard in training. So I am certain that she would break the national record which has stood for a long period,' he added. 'I am satisfied with her performance in training and hopeful that she would leave a mark in Olympics,' added Ojha. Another athlete, Hari Kumar Rimal, who is also from TAC, is scheduled to take part in 800m race on August 17.