RIO DE JANERIO: Nepali athlete Hari Kumar Rimal will be eyeing the new national record in 5,000m when he takes part in the Heats of the Rio Olympic Games here at the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday.

The Tribhuvan Army Club athlete has his eyes firmly set on the national record of 14 minutes 04.89 seconds held by his clubmate Rajendra Bhandari, who set the mark in Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Rimal’s personal best time is 14:32.18 and he needs to be 28 seconds faster than that to break the record.

But the lone medal winning athlete of the 12th South Asian Games, Rimal has a belief that he can do it. “We have made our preparations with an aim of getting a new national mark,” Rimal told The Himalayan Times. “But it’s a game and no one can predict what would happen.” Rimal said he was confident of bettering his personal best timing though. “My first target will be to run in my career best timing,” he said. “Breaking the national record is the optimum target.”

However, Rimal was not satisfied with the preparation and said that the players and coaches had done their best for the Olympic Games. “We did our best on our own to prepare for the Olympics. The association did not help us in our training and the officials turned deaf ears towards our request of special preparation,” he said.

He also accused the authorities of not taking the athletes and preparations seriously. “We were told to keep training on our own when we asked for special preparation. The concerned officials did not take the preparations seriously saying the athletes are not going to compete for medals in the Olympics,” he said. “Later, coach Pushpa Raj Ojha was assigned to look after our training. We are forced to train at the Dasharath Stadium track along with a crowd of people who go there for morning walk.

We cannot expect more with one-month training under such conditions,” he added. “I am hoping for the best as I have trained under a coach who has represented the country in Olympics,” said Rimal of coach Ojha who took part in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Rimal said representing the country in Olympic Games was a dream and he was happy to get the chance. “I had a dream of playing in Olympics ever since I became the national champion a decade ago,” said Rimal, who made his athletics debut through marathon and late switched to middle-distance runner. “May be I got this opportunity because I did well in the 12th SA Games,” he added. Rimal saved Nepal’s blushes in the SAG by winning the bronze medal with his personal best time of 14:32.18 in Guwahati earlier this year.

Rimal participated in 1,500m and 5,000m races in his first international tournament in the 18th Asian Championship in 2009. He represented the country in 11th SA Games in Dhaka the next year and was the member of the Nepali squad in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010. He then took part in 19th Asian Championship in Japan in 2011 before winning his first medal on foreign soil when he bagged golds in 5,000m and 10,000m races at the 91st Malaysia Open in 2014. He has also experiences of participating in the 17th Asian Games in Incheon in 2014 and IAAF World Championship in China last year.

Apart from leaving a mark in the Olympics, Rimal has another dream in Rio, meeting Usain Bolt. “I will definitely concentrate in my game first,” said Rimal. “After my race, I will be chasing Bolt as I like him very much as an athlete. I will also look to catch up with other players in Rio but I am sad that I won’t be able to meet my best player Lionel Messi,” he said. Bolt has already underlined his presence in Rio by winning the 100m gold in his triple-treble bid, while Messi is not in the Argentine squad this time around. “I had a dream of meeting Messi and his absence in Rio has already hurt me,” said Rimal.