Nepal Olympic Committee Awards Recognize Top Athletes, Coaches, and Journalists

The Nepal Olympic Committee celebrated Olympic Day by hosting its fourth annual NOC Award ceremony in Kathmandu, recognizing outstanding achievements in sports. The event honored top athletes, coaches, sports associations, and journalists across ten distinct categories.

This year's awards saw Shivali Gurung and Nurbu Thendup Sherpa named Best Young Athletes (female and male, respectively). In the senior categories, karateka Arika Gurung, already a decorated international competitor, received the Best Female Athlete award for the second consecutive year. Wushu practitioner Bijaya Sinjali was recognized as the Best Male Athlete, having previously won a bronze medal at the 3rd Taolu World Cup.

Coaching excellence was acknowledged with Kushal Shrestha from karate and Harina Thapa from kabaddi receiving the male and female coach awards. The Nepal Karate Federation was honored as the Best Association. The ceremony also celebrated sports journalism, with Ajay Phuyal receiving the Best Sports Journalist (writing) award, Sudarshan Ranjit honored as Best Cameraperson, and Sarita Shrestha recognized as Best Online Journalist.

In addition to the competitive awards, the NOC presented Presidential Recognitions to several individuals and organizations for their significant contributions to sports development. These included Ashok Ratna Bajracharya, Chaturananda Raj Vaidya, Geeta Rana, Surya Lal Bhandari, Laxmi Shrestha, the Nepal Ex-sportsmen Forum, Sharad Chandra Shah Memorial Foundation, and Thunderbolts Sports Academy (GEMS School).