Shah, the most experienced Olympian from Nepal at the London Olympic Games, completed the 50m freestyle in 26.93 seconds during the heat round of the event. Shah´s previous personal best time was 27.04 seconds set during the Pramod Memorial Cup last month.[break]
Chitra Bahadur Gurung holds the national record of 26.39 seconds for the 50m freestyle. Gurung had set the national record in Kathmandu in 2003.
Shah finished 47th among 58 swimmers in the event. Brazilian swimmer Cielo Cesar holds the world and Olympics records for the event. Cesar had set a world record of 20.91 seconds in Sao Paulo in 2009 and an Olympic record of 21.30 seconds in Beijing 2008. Cesar reached the final round of the event clocking 21.80 seconds in the heat round.
Shah was not happy despite his improved record. "I´m upset today. I had a dream of setting a new national record but I failed," said Shah. "I gave my best but the result was not as expected."
Shah said that the injury he picked during a training session in Kent, UK affected his performance. Shah had sustained shoulder injury during the training session. "I could not practise for two weeks because of injury," said Shah, 23.
Shah said that Nepali swimmers can also come up with better results if they are provided good facilities and well-organized trainings. "We don´t have heating system in our swimming pools. We have to rest for more than six months. If we get such facilities and good trainings, we can win medals at least in the South Asian level.
Rijal competes Friday
Nepali athlete Pramila Rijal will compete in the women´s 100m sprint on Friday despite back pain.
Rijal is suffering from back problems for the past three weeks but it has aggravated over the last three days. Doctors have advised her not to participate in the games.
However, doctors have been administering her painkillers from Tuesday as she insisted on competing in the event.
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