Nepal’s track and field athletes train for the Asian Para Games on their own terms

The Post profiles the members of Nepal’s athletics squad who are training without state sponsorship, adapting to disabilities, financial hardship and personal tragedies as they prepare for the Asian Para Games in Nagoya.

At around 7:30am on September 21, four athletes began their drill on the synthetic track of Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu. They stretched their body, walked and sprinted to the whistle of coach Bimala Rana Magar, a former Olympian who represented Nepal in the women’s marathon at Atlanta 1996. Under Bimala’s tutelage, Prabha Angdembe, Shristi Dhewaju, Nawaraj Karki and Chet Narayan Khanal ‘Samir’ are training for the 5th Asian Para Games, which is kicking off in Nagoya, Japan, on October 18.