| Newslook |
February
4, 2002
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| Title: Nepal’s Olympic Appearance | ||
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| Never
before in the 78 years old history of the Winter Olympics games has Nepal
participated. But the story will change soon. By Sushil Thapa With the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake, Utah just around the corner, there is something to cheer and talk about. Never before in the 78 years old history of the games has Nepal participated. But the story will change soon. Believe it or not when the mega spectacle kicks off at Rice- Eccles Olympic Stadium on 2 February, a Nepali will proudly parade along with hundreds of international athletes in front of a massive crowd. The athlete representing Nepal needs no formal introduction. He is well known nationally and internationally. He is no other than Jay Khadka, the adopted son of British millionaire Richard Morley. It was Morley’s painstaking fight against the British government over Khadka's adoption that made international headlines. It took him seven arduous years to make the British government accept the adoption. Khadka, born in a poor family in a remote village, never dreamt that one day he would become heir to a vast empire and represent Nepal at the Olympic Winter Games. Thanks largely to his late father who saved the life of the millionaire; Khadka’s life took a dramatic transformation. Like every helpless poor kid, he was deprived of a decent education, and barley at 13, was forced to take up work. A year later in a restaurant in Bhaktapur, a historical city, Morley finally got hold of him. Rest is history. Khadka, 25, is a sports enthusiast. His boyhood dream was to represent Nepal in an international meet. Today he is only days away from fulfilling it. When he steps on the ice at Salt Lake, he will become the first Nepali winter games Olympian. The day is bound to be very, very special for him and Nepal. Jay's specialty is the giant slalom but he will compete in the 10 km cross-country event. Though he stands a very slim chance to come up trumps, he hopes to finish the two courses. For someone like Jay who hails from a country where winter sports is unknown and not in existence, Nepal's representation at the Olympics is a matter of pride to the country. Credit goes to Morley who paved the way for Khadka by establishing Nepal Ski Association in 2000 and trained him. The Englishman himself was an alpine racer during his service with the Royal Navy. In no time Khadka mastered the sport but more importantly was determined to emulate his father. He started with the giant slalom and developed some super GS experience. He has won a few local races with a handicap rating close to Olympic qualification standards. A season of lackluster show and bad shoulder jeopardized Khadka’s chances to qualify for the Salt Lake City games. That, however, did not deter him. Instead, he took to cross-country skiing with renewed hopes to qualify. In the process, he raced in 6 FIS events and briefly trained with the French national team under the watchful eyes of Jean Pierre and eventually qualified. This is just the beginning. Khadka's participation will open the door and should encourage interested groups to undertake projects in Nepal to develop winter games. Sushil Thapa is a Nepali sports journalist currently residing in the U.S. |