Kathmandu, April 4:

Athlete Nirmala Bharati, who finished sixth in the Vattenfall Berlin Half Marathon in Germany on Sunday, received a warm welcome upon her arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday.

Bharati finished sixth in the championship with the timings of 1hr 18mins and 46secs, setting a new national record. She bettered her own previous national record by about two minutes (1:20.13), set in the recently-held 35th National Athletics Championship in Kathmandu.

“I am happy to have succeeded in bettering my earlier records,” Bharati said. She also said that the competition has made her feel that international exposures could enormously help athletes perform much better.

A total of 3,728 women and 9,642 men from 67 countries completed the race participated by 20,419 athletes. Edith Masai of Kenya won the women’s half marathon with the timing of 1:07.16. Deena Kastor of the United States (1:07.34) finished second followed by Kenyan Mary Ptikany (1:09.43) and Betrice Omwanza (1:11.34). Melanie Kraus of Germany finished fifth (1:13.58) ahead of Bharati.

National Sports Council member secretary and NAA president Kishor Bahadur Singh and officials and other athletes welcomed Bharati and the officials.

Meanwhile, Women Forum of Non-Resident Nepali (NRN-Germany) hosted a reception and interaction programme in recognition to Bharati’s achievement in Berlin.

According to an email sent to The Himalayan Times by Rajendra Sthapit, protocol secretary of NRN-Germany, deputy chief of Royal Nepalese Embassy in Berlin, Prahlad Kumar Prasai, executive representative of Woman Forum of NRN-Germany, Usha Sharma, vice president of Nepal Athletic Association and Nepali team manager Rajiv Bikram Shah and general secretary of NAA and coach Sushil Narsingh Rana were present on the occasion.

Prior to the function, a large number of Nepali residing in Germany stood along side the route to encourage and cheer Bharati.

Sanjay Shrestha, treasurer of NRN-Germany, assisted the Nepali team during their six-day stay in Berlin.