Other Sports
Sher Bahadur Singh
Seven Olympians, including three from Sudurpaschim Province, shared their struggle-to-success stories with students at the Little Buddha Academy in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur district.
Deepak Bista, a taekwondo world record holder, reflected on his first excursion into sports, which came as a schoolboy when he took up volleyball.
Bista, who grew up in Raikabar, Krishnapur Municipality, Kailali district, recalled, "In eighth grade, I played volleyball with a group of friends, sometimes even using a sock as a substitute ball. I kept up with both my academic and athletic pursuits."
He spoke highly of his hometown of Sudurpaschim Province, where he had attended intermediate level in the science faculty, and of Mahendranagar, where he had completed his undergraduate degree.
He emphasised the importance of sports for health and fitness by recommending that everyone dedicate at least an hour per day to sports.
He claims that high school athletes are the source of Olympic competitors. This means that the best way to turn natural talent into a trained athlete is to start the process early, in elementary school.
Bista shares a record for the most gold medals - four - by a Nepali athletes at the South Asian Games. He made his final appearance for Nepal at the 2010 South Asian Games in Bangladesh.
The Asian Games bronze medalist urged the sports-minded students to pursue athletics seriously and to train properly.
Players from Sudurpashim Province, including boxers Bishnu Bahadur Singh and Dambar Dutta Bhatta, and athletes Dambar Kunwar and Bharat Saud, competed for Nepal at the 1988 Olympics in South Korea.
Singh and Bhatta, two Nepalese boxers, admitted in the same breath that it was difficult to compete internationally three decades ago. They have combined to compete in 21 international events over the course of their athletic careers, with both of them bringing home multiple medals from those events.
Bhatta claimed he first picked up a boxing glove in 1982, while he was in seventh grade. He joked, rather sheepishly, about the multiple times he had to take School Leaving Certificate exams because he had put his passion for boxing ahead of his academic pursuits.
"Later on, I continued athletics and studies and managed to come this far," the former boxer and current trainer said.
Like Bista, he argued that the best way to become a professional athlete is to start practicing and competing while still in school. Athletes who go on to compete in the Olympics are among those who begin their preparations in elementary school.
He spoke enthusiastically about his boxing career, which ranged from the Olympic Games to the 13th and 14th South Asian Games and the European Championship, and he revealed some little-known but interesting details about himself.
Similarly, boxer Singh said that he first picked up the sport in 1982, when he was in the eighth grade. "I competed in the Olympics despite maintaining a 4.0-grade point average in school. Today's youth require a supportive setting to study and train for a professional sports career."
Olympians Baikuntha Manandhar and Deepak Shrestha, together with female Olympians Debu Thapa and Pramila Rijal, also participated in the storytelling programme.
In conjunction with the Nepal Olympians' Association and the Nepal Sports Council, these athletes were there to share their experiences as part of the 'School to Olympian Project'.
According to the council, the goal of the programme is to provide a supportive atmosphere for aspiring student-athletes so that they can develop into successful professionals in their chosen fields.
- RSS
