Tibetan athletes shine at the Chinese National Games

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By Vasudha Bhatia / September 10, 2017;

Choeying Kyi

Three Tibetan athletes have out shone the opposition in the 13th National Games of China held in Tianjin, a port city in North-eastern China, from August 28 – September 9.

Topgyal won a gold medal in the 10 km men’s run and Mingyur Nima won a bronze medal in the same category. Cheoying Kyi won the silver medal in 20 km women’s race walk which she completed in 1 hour 23 minutes and 33 seconds.

Cheoying Kyi is the first Tibetan athlete to have participated in, and won a medalin, the Olympics. She participated in both the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics. In 2012 London Olympics, she bagged the silver medal. She is from Tsojhang in the eastern Tibetan region of Amdo.

Topgyal

Track athlete Topgyal is a marathon runner and completed the 10 kmrace in 28.26 minutes, just 2 minutes short of the current world record in the same category. He has earlier represented China in the 2016 Rio Olympics. He is a native of Taktse county near Tibet’s capital Lhasa and is 23 years old. Topgyal has also participated in the in the Asian Games, Asian Championships, Beijing Track and Field World Championships, and the IAAF Diamond League.