KATHMANDU: Five athletes will be vying in the 32nd Summer Olympics to be held in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, from July 23 to August 8. They will be competing in four games.

Nepali athletes will be participating in athletics, shooting, judo, and swimming competitions. Saraswati Chaudhary will compete in athletics, Kalpana Pariyar in shooting, Soniya Bhatta in judo, and Gaurika Singh and Alex Shah in swimming.

Chaudhary will be vying in the 100 meters dash under the ‘universality’ quota. She will be running the race on July 30.
Pariyar will compete in the 10-meter air rifle shooting event. She is participating in the Tokyo 2020, securing a wild card. The event will be held on July 24. If she gets through the qualification round, she will be competing in the final stage of this event to be held in the evening on the same day.

Soniya Bhatta will vie in judo. She is also participating in the Olympics through the wild card. International Judo Federation is going to include Soniya in Olympics on the basis of seniority. The 19-year-old Soniya will compete under the 48-kg group. Her match will be held on July 24.

Similarly, Alex Shah and Gaurika Singh are participating in swimming from Nepal. Both the players are participating in the Olympics under the universal quota. Swimmer Alex will represent Nepal in the men’s 100-meters freestyle.

He would compete in the hit round of men’s 100-meter freestyle on July 27. Similarly, Alex will compete in another round on July 28 if he passes the hit round and the final round on July 29 if he wins the competition on July 28.
Likewise, Gaurika is participating in a hit round in women’s 100-meter freestyle on July 28.

Overall, Nepal has not been able to perform remarkably in the Olympic Games. Its competition has been limited only to participation. Looking at Nepal’s history up to the 14th series in Olympics, no achievements have been gained so far.

Nepal’s presence in the Olympics had begun in 1964 with the 18th edition held in Tokyo. So far, 85 players had represented the country in the sports mega meet, but none had brought any official award to home.

However, Taekwondo’s Deepak Bista and Sangeena Baidhya have completed the selection rounds.

Nepal has so far competed in eight genres: athletics, boxing, swimming, taekwondo, weight lifting, shooting, judo, and archery. Participation in athletics is uninterrupted since1964.

This time, Nepal hopes to improve its performance in the Olympics instead of eyes on the trophy.

Swimming, shooting, and judo players have already reached Japan in course of taking part in one of the world’s major sports tournaments while the athletics team will be leaving for Tokyo on July 24.
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