Nepal’s first Olympian who ran his first int’l race barefoot no more

Nepal´s first Olympian Bhupendra Silwal (File photo)

Nepal´s first Olympian Bhupendra Silwal has passed away while undergoing treatment for stomach tumor and other ailments at Army Hospital, Chhauni on Thursday night. He was 78.

Admitted to the hospital four days ago for treatment of stomach tumor, Silwal didn’t regain his consciousness after being anesthetized for surgery to remove the ulcer yesterday night, doctors involved in his treatment said. The former Olympian was also suffering from multiple ailments including high-blood pressure.

His body has been kept at the premises of National Sports Council for people to pay their last respects.

A resident of Godavari, Lalitpur, Silwal was a marathon runner in Nepal’s small team at the country’s first ever Olympics in 1964 Tokyo Games.

For the feat, the association of Non-Residential Nepalis in United Kingdom (NRN-UK) invited Silwal to see the 2012 Olympic Games in London and also honoured him amid a programme.

Talking with the BBC recently, he had recounted his experiences at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, when he was forced to run barefoot. He said he ended his first international race with tarmac stuck so badly to the soles of his feet that when he tried to get it off using a needle, his feet were left bloody.

But despite the bloody feet, he still came seventh.

"If only I had the kind of shoes these athletes are wearing here in the London Olympics, I would have perhaps come first," he had told the BBC. Nepalnews.com