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Jay Khadka, the first athlete to represent Nepal at the Winter Olympics, completed his Games schedule in the 1500 metre Cross-Country Sprint at Soldier Hollow today. But after a promising display in the 10km Classical pursuit last week, the 25 year old skier from Pharping suffered a crashing fall on the last bend and finished last of the 72 runners. Nonetheless he finished with a very respectable time of 4 min 48 seconds despite slipping again yards from the finishing post amidst huge roars from the grandstand.

"I was so disappointed to fall that I slipped again almost immediately after getting up," Jay told the mass of reporters and TV crews who surrounded him after the race. "In front of so many people it was very embarrassing," he admitted.

After the deaths of more than 150 Nepalese Servicemen in action overnight, the international media asked Jay if this had affected his performance. "I am very distressed by the fighting at home," he said. "Some of my close relatives are serving in that region and I have no idea if they are dead or alive. I am grieving for all those who have died in this war."

But British coach Richard Morley insisted the blame for Jay's big fall was his. "We gave his skis the best waxing possible immediately before the race and I told him to go easily on his warm up laps. Unfortunately he was not used to such technical preparation. With only one pair of skis available to
us we have not waxed them so well during training. I think the greatly added speed took him by surprise and he lost control on the steep approach entering the stadium. This sport is highly technical and we both have a great deal to learn."

Mr. Morley has personally trained Jay in Alpine racing for three seasons and the first Nepali skier has scored some impressive results in various European races. But bad luck struck them early last year when a torn knee ligament and broken arm forced Jay to suspend Alpine events and attempt to
qualify for the Salt Lake Games through Cross Country Skiing.

"We must be the most amateur team at the whole Olympics Jay declared. Both the athlete and the coach have only had six weeks experience at Nordic Skiing before arriving at Soldier Hollow. But FIS Nordic Race Director, Bengt-Erik Bengtsson, warmly congratulated the pair on their efforts. "The
developing nations such as Nepal have brought a great deal to the sport of Nordic skiing," he told a meeting of team leaders and officials on Monday. "They have introduced it to millions of new people around the world and their efforts to develop and improve have been very good," he continued.

Mr. Bengtssson also personally congratulated Jay and Richard on their remarkable achievement of improving so much in an Olympic debut. Jay reduced his FIS point penalties from 954 to 418 in the 10km pursuit. This is believed to be an Olympic record. (press report from Nepal Olympic Association, Olympic Village, Salt Lake City Feb. 21)

Record Making Appearance by Nepali Skier 

British resident Jay Khadka (25) made the first ever Winter Olympic appearance for Nepal in Thursday's 10km Classical Cross Country ski race at Soldier Hollow. And he may have set another record. By finishing the demanding new course in a little more than 44 minutes he reduced his previous best FIS points score by more than 50% from 945 to 433. Such improvement in an Olympic debut may be unprecedented.

A useful Alpine skier for three years, Jay first took up Cross Country skiing only in November 2001after a serious ligament injury prevented any chance of qualification in the Giant Slalom. But after just 100 hours practice in Classical, he is now a firm enthusiast for the sport. Accordingly he hopes to qualify in both disciplines for the next Games.

Jay is trained by British coach, Richard Morley who began ski teaching in the Royal Navy 25 years ago. He races next in the 1.5 km sprint on Tuesday. press report Feb. 15

NEPAL to make first appearance in Winter Olympics under British sponsorship

25 year old Jayaram Khadka has become the first Nepalese athlete ever to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games. He is scheduled to compete in the 10km Nordic Ski championship at Soldier Hollow during the forthcoming games at Salt Lake City.

The Himalayan kingdom, famous for its Gurkha soldiers and Mt. Everest, has no ski facilities. But Jay has been able to train under British team manager, Richard Morley, at the Nepal Ski Team
base in Les Arcs, France. Two other Nepali skiers have recently begun training and the team hopes to make a stronger appearance at the 2006 Olympiad in Italy.

Jay, now a British resident, lives in Tunbridge Wells where he runs the Russell Hotel. Born in a Nepali mountain village, he was adopted at the age of 14 and brought to live at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire. A controversial decision to deport him by the last Conservative government led to a 7-year legal battle and considerable international media attention. But thousands of UK citizens protested and former Home Secretary Jack Straw reversed his predecessor's decision on his first day in office.

Jay's Schedule

14th Feb, 9 AM - 10 KM Classic Pursuit
19th Feb, 9AM - 1.5 KM Freestyle Sprint

Biography
Jayaram Khadka

Jay was born about 25 years ago in a mountain village in central Nepal. He needed to work from the age of eight and received little education. After his father died, he was informally adopted in 1990 by British millionaire, Richard Morley, and taken to live in an English Castle as his son and heir. As a youth, Mr. Morley received life saving assistance from Jay's father on Mt.Annapurna and he promised in return to adopt the boy if anything happened to the father. But the British Government refused to accept the adoption and ordered Jay's deportation. The legal argument lasted nearly seven years amidst intense international publicity until a new British Government finally accepted Jay's right to live with his British family in 1997.

Only then could Jay begin to fulfill his long held dream to represent his nation at the Olympics. He had always wanted to be a sportsman but until the 1997/8 season he could not leave Britain and visit his family ski chalet in Les Arcs, France. Mr. Morley had been an Alpine Ski racer during his service with Royal Navy and Jay was determined to emulate him. So they returned to Nepal and discussed the formation of a Nepal Ski Association with the king and the government. Skiing is almost completely unknown in Nepal and the Nepal Ski Team could not officially take existence until 2000. But Jay was able to spend the meantime under training from his father and the French UCPA training school at his home village in Les Arcs.

Over the past two seasons Jay has concentrated entirely on Alpine Skiing where he specialised in Giant Slalom and also developed some Super GS experience. He has won a few local races with a handicap rating not far from Olympic qualification standard but his performance at unfamiliar FIS courses was hampered by inexperience. A season of poor snow and a troublesome shoulder injury in March 2001 finally seemed to close Jay's chance of qualifying for the Salt Lake City Games.

But on 17 November 2001 Jay took up Cross Country Skiing and began to qualify for the Games through another route. Since then he has raced in 6 FIS events and briefly trained together with French National team under Jean Pierre Boudet. Although he has little chance of even beating another competitor in 10km event, Jay will be delighted simply to finish the two courses and become the first Nepali Winter Olympian in history.