Nepal made their Olympic debut in 1964 by sending six athletes to represent them in the Summer Games held in Tokyo, Japan. Two marathon runners, Bahadur Bhupendra and Bahadur Thapa Ganga and four boxers namely Thapa Namsing, Thapa Bhim Bahadur, Gurung Ram Prasad and Pun Om Prasad were Nepal's first-ever Olympians.
Nepal missed the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, Mexico then come back in 1972 with Jit Bahadur and Bhakta Bahadur representing them in the 20th Olympiad which was held in Munich, West Germany. From this point on, Nepal has never missed a single Summer Olympics' meet.
However, with a near perfect attendance record since their debut in 1964, Nepal is yet to win their first-ever Olympic medal. Tejbir Bura won an Olympic gold medal for his contributions as part of a mixed team for alpinism in the 1924 Winter Games as a member of the 1922 Everest Expedition. But since it was a mixed team, the medal cannot be officially awarded to Nepal.
Taekwondo athlete Jin Bidhan Lama also won a bronze medal in the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, but since taekwondo was an exhibition sport at the time, Nepal remains without an official Olympic medal to its name.
Nepal made its debut in the Winter Olympics in 2002 with cross-country skier Jay Khadka. In 2006, Dachhiri Sherpa replaced Khadka in Turin, Italy and has been representing Nepal from that point on.
Trivia
- 100m backstroke Swimmer Gaurika Singh of Nepal, at 13 years and 255 days, was the youngest athlete in Rio 2016
Related Pages
- Nepal at the Winter Olympics
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- About sport in Nepal