Kathmandu, December 3

Nepal Olympic Committee today honoured the participants of Rio Olympic Games.

NOC  President Jeevan Ram Shrestha handed over Rs 103,450 ($1,000) each to the seven  Nepali athletes who competed in the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August  last year. Swimmer Gaurika Singh was the youngest athlete of the  Rio Olympics, while swimmer Sirish Gurung and athlete Saraswoti Bhattarai broke national records.

Gurung had bettered his own mark in 100m freestyle event in Rio, while Bhattarai broke the 26-year-old mark in women’s 1,500m race. Another athlete Hari Rimal competed in men’s 5,000m  race. Phupu Lhamu Khatri became the first Nepali judoka to survive for full four minutes in the 63kg section, while Jit Bahadur Moktan was the first Nepali archer to compete in Olympics in the men’s individual event. Taekwondo  player Nisha Rawal finished overall seventh in the women’s above 67kg category.

Meanwhile, Shrestha said the NOC provided the athletes with the financial support to honour them. “Nepal was in world headlines during the Olympics and our athletes made the whole nation proud with their performance,” said Shrestha.

He  also informed that NOC would start the process of getting scholarships to the Nepali players for the Tokyo Olympics to be held in Japan in 2020. “We are here to ensure maximum participation of Nepali athletes in Olympics and we want our players to qualify rather than rely on wildcards,” he said. “We will negotiate with International Olympic Committee to get scholarships for our athletes to prepare for the Games,” added Shrestha.