A lot of murky water has passed under the bridges near Pashupatinath, since the South Asian Games got over, where Nepali athletes did a creditable job of bagging the most number of gold medals in the Games played outside the country.
Nepal finished fifth, while aiming to finish fourth among the 8 nations that participated in what is normally labeled as India's medal bagging sports jamboree. Yet, one man – all of 6 feet minus a couple of inches – from Nepal, towered over all of them, for a small matter of collecting his 4th gold medal, in as many editions of the Games.
Honestly, before the games began, yours truly felt, it was beyond this man's capability to collect this coveted gold. He thought, this man, who goes by the name of Deepak Bista, was past his prime, and what more, he was too involved in players' politics to have real prospects. One had to consider that this 33-year old bachelor had too many niggles in his body to contest, let alone beat the others to claim the top spot.
However, yours truly was happy, and also had a sense of pride, to eat his own words, when Bista collected the gold, and made SAG his own domain.
But then, one fact that always worried his fans before the Games actually began, of him carrying an injury, has escaped many as the medal was brought home. The fact, that he requires an immediate medical attention.
Deepak needs a surgery on his knees and that would require some money, more than this bloke with humble beginnings from Raikwar Bichawa VDC in Far Western Nepal, can boast of. Despite having a collection of medals in his room, Deepak would need some support to bear the expenses. However, authorities, who boast of controlling sports in the country – while they should actually be managing it – are yet to come up with any plan to help for Nepal's most decorated sportsman.
And, while a number of political outfits have tried to gain cheap publicity by throwing felicitations on the players, the head of the government or the head of the state have yet to manage time to meet the medal winners at the South Asian Games.
PS : Yours truly was inspired to write this bit, on sports, after a long long gap, after having a chat with KTV Sports reporter Bishnuhari Ghimire, who is otherwise famous as Harry, The Reporter...
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