NOC marks closing ceremony of Olympic Day

KATHMANDU, June 23: Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) on Tuesday marked the closing ceremony of an 11-day long Olympic Day celebrations at the Army Physical Training and Sports Center in Lagankhel on Tuesday.

The event was organized to commemorate the birth of modern Olympics that began on June 23, 1894. The Sports for All Commission of NOC held various 26 sports and other events as part of the celebration of Olympic day including football, volleyball, wheel chair basketball, table tennis, chess, lawn tennis, fencing, boxing, swimming, painting, basketball, painting, among others, partnering with various sports associations and others.Olympians Jeet Bahadur KC, Kamal Adhikari, Rajendra Bhandari, Chandra Kala Thapa, Debu Thapa, Phool Maya Yakthumba, Pushpa Raj Ojha, Prabin Tuladhar and Sangeena Baidhya handed over the Olympic torch to Bishnu Gopal Shrestha, the president of Sports for All Commission of NOC, after running around the stadium of army ground in Lagankhel. Shrestha also read out the message conveyed by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

Speaking during the closing ceremony, Minister for Youth and Sports Purusottam Paudel said that Olympic movement was a strong means to promote brotherhood and friendship. "Sports could play a vital role in developing confidence of the Nepali people who have been badly hit by earthquake," Paudel said. He also expressed commitment to support Nepali players in their preparations in such a way that they would at least win a medal in 2020 Japan Olympics.

NOC President Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan said that International Olympic Committee had expressed commitment to support Nepal in rebuilding and renovating sports infrastructures of the country damaged by earthquake. As sports is the only means to bring peace and help bring the life of quake-hit people to normalcy, NOC shall distribute sports kits with door-to-door program in near future.

Meanwhile, Chhitij Arun Shrestha, the founder president of Nepal Olympic Museum was given honorary membership of NOC at the same program.

Brazil's ambassador to Nepal Marcos Borges Duport Ribeiro and Japan's ambassador to Nepal Masashi Ogawa also attended the program and wished quick recovery of the country devastated by earthquake.

Related story

NOC marks beginning of Olympic Day