POKHARA, OCTOBER 17
Durga Bahadur Budha won the first gold medal for Karnali Province in the Ninth National Games with a new national record amidst controversy here at the Pokhara Stadium today.
The 32-year-old Budha finished first in the 3,000m steeplechase race in eight minutes and 55.19 seconds, almost 26 seconds ahead of Nepal APF Club's Ajit Yadav, who came in 9:21.10. Tribhuvan Army Club's Subash Karki was third in 8:22.15 seconds. Budha broke the previous national record of 8:57 set by the then TAC athlete Rajendra Bhandari in the ninth South Asian Federation Games in Islamabad in 2004.
Budha came under controversy after three departmental teams and GandakiProvince lodged a protest against him on Sunday demanding his expulsion from the event. Coaches from Tribhuvan Army Club, Nepal Police Club, Nepal APF Club and Gandaki Province submitted the protest letter to the technical sub-committee claiming Budha had played for India in national and international events.
Budha, who played for India in the 2017 Asian Championship in Bhuvaneshwar in the same event and finished eighth, was cleared to participate and he went on to win the gold medal in record time. "I am surprised that departmental teams are always against me. The same thing hap-pened with me in the Eighth National Games in Nepalgunj," said Budha, who won one gold and two silvers in Beljhundi in 2019.
"I am a Nepali citizen andI want to play for my country," said Budha, who has been associated with the Indian Army as an athlete since 2012. "I represented India in a tournament and I regret that as I want to play for Nepal and win medals for my country," added the athlete from Jumla, who won a bronze medal in the fifth edition of the Games in Kathmandu.
After winning the gold medal in the Annapurna Ultra Marathon, Budha represented Nepal in the Ultra Run in Portugal in 2019 and finished overall 17th in the 44km Ultra World Championship. He also took part in the Dolomitic Run in Italy where he finished 22nd in the 22km race.
The three-time Jumla to Rara Marathon winner Budha was the winner of the third Nepalgunj Marathon and Dharan 10K Run, while he finished second in the Kantipur Marathon, KTM City Marathon, and Run for Protein in Kathmandu.
The 32-year-old athlete from Sinja took up the sport after seeing legendary marathon runner Hari Bahadur Rokaya earn fame in athletics. Rokaya holds the world record of winning the highest altitude Everest Marathon three times and he has been working as a coach in remote Jumla district.
"Apart from excelling in athletics and representing Nepal in the Olympics in marathon through qualifying, my aim is to produce champion athletes in future," he said. Our inspiration and coach Hari Rokaya produced a player like me and I want to follow his path in the days to come," he added.
Budha came to Pokhara with the plan of taking part in three events but he had to pull out of the 10,000m race due to a tight schedule of events. "The 10,000m race was held yesterday and I knew I could win a medal in the event. But I wanted gold and was confident of winning the 3,000m steeplechase, so I pulled out from the 10,000m race," said Budha, who is scheduled to compete in the 5,000m race on Wednesday.
Budha said he was sad when Jumla District Sports Development Committee refused to register his name for the National Games. "I won a medal in the fifth National Games and is the lone medal winner in the eighth edition of the Games. But the sports authorities refused to register my name for the ninth National Games and I had to go through provincial selection," he said. "The dirty game of politics in sports isruining it all. The so-called authorities in Jumla know nothing about sports and they even do not recognise the players from their own district," said Budha. "The development of sports is not possible until these types of people remain in power."
In the women's 100m hurdles, TAC athlete Jayarani Tharu won gold medal and also set a new national record. Tharu broke the national record in heats with the timing of 15.16 seconds, improving on her previous best of 15.20 seconds. She completed the distance in 15.69 seconds to win gold in finals, while her TAC teammate Nirmala Thapa came second in 16.25 seconds and APF's Bhagirati Kumari Tharu was third in 19.13 seconds.
Jeevan Chaudhary of TAC won 110m hurdles with a timing of 15.03 seconds, while Nepal Police Club's Chandra Dev Joshi bagged silver in 15.81 seconds and TAC's Ram Prasad Tharu claimed bronze in 16 seconds.
Also, TAC's Chitra Bahadur Oli won Discuss Throw gold medal with a distance of 38.48 metres. NPC's Puskal Khadka bagged silver with a throw of 32.75 metres, while Hemant Pal of Sudurpashchim won bronze with 31.10 metres. In the women's section, Sangita Adhikari won gold with 35.10 metres, while APF's Jit Kumari Mahato (33.60m) and TAC's Milan Budha Magar (32.35) came second and third respectively.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 18, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
