Nepal NOC runs programme to keep Tokyo Olympic athletes mentally strong

Nepal athletes at the Closing Ceremony at last December's South Asian Games in Kathmandu. © Getty Images
Nepal athletes at the Closing Ceremony at last December's South Asian Games in Kathmandu. © Getty Images

Lalitpur, Nepal, April 15, 2020: A week-long "winning mindset psychology well-being programme" for athletes run by the Nepal Olympic Committee got underway on Sunday, April 12 at the NOC headquarters in Lalitpur.

Chairperson of the Sports Psychology Commission, Indra Gurung, conducted the one-hour session by video-conference for the athletes who had been preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“The training sessions of the athletes have been postponed due to pandemic COVID-19 and all of them are confined to their residences because of the lockdown. We decided to conduct the programme for a week to prevent possible mental and psychological problems in the athletes,” Nepal NOC said in a release.

Last September, Nepal NOC picked 11 athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Scholarship Programme. They were drawn from seven sports - archery, karate, shooting, swimming, judo, weightlifting and taekwondo. 

The NOC statement added: “We will also continue to monitor the fitness of the athletes during the lockdown period.”

The NOC last week held a video-conference  with stakeholders to discuss various ways of keeping the athletes physically and mentally fit.

Source: The Himalayan Times