PICS: MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA IN ACTION: Debu Thapa is confident about the training she's recieved in Nepal.

Debu is representing Nepal in judo at the Olympic Games in Beijing next month. She won the silver at the 10th SAF Games and is undergoing vigorous training.

"If not a medal, I hope to at least bring back a diploma," she says modestly. Seven other Olympians will accompany Debu to Beijing along with 22 other 'officials' next week. But as the calendar gets closer to D-day, Nepali athletes are up to their ears in the politics involving the Nepal Olympic Committee.

NOC's Jeevan Shrestha says it is sad that this happens before every international sports meet. "It really de-motivates our athletes".

Although it's easy to be jaded and cynical about Nepali sports, it's the hard work, determination and optimism of the athletes that is the saving grace. Hopes are high, for example, that Deepak Bista brings back a medal for taekwondo like Bidhan Lama, who won the bronze in the 1988 Olympics.

Bista has probably undergone the most rigorous training among all Nepali athletes for this Olympics. He is in Korea for the final phase of training under a scholarship by the Olympic Committee that covers all his costs.

Another hopeful is Arjun Basnet, who is in the marathon. Arjun has run in international competitions and done the high-altitude Annapurna marathon. Could this be the Olympics when Nepali runners finally break out like the Ethiopians and Kenyans have done? Running at high altitude could give Nepali marathoners an edge, if they had better training and diet.

Arjun Basnet is hoping for a medal in the marathon.

The rest of Team Nepal is setting its eyes on performing well, and at least besting the national record in their events. Because they were selected through the Olympic wildcard system, most athletes have not been able to practice more than a few months.

"At this point, just participating will be a big experience," says Chandrakala Thapa who was chosen for the 100 meter. Kamal Adhikari was informed of his selection in weightlifting only on 10 July and hasn't had much time to practice. So he is looking at the Olympics as a practice for the South Asian Games in 2010.

The NOC is keeping its fingers crossed about Deepak Bista who won gold medals in three South Asian Games in a row as well as the American Governor's Cup. In the Athens Olympics in 2008, Nepal's great hope was Sangina Baidya ('Shining Sangina', #199).

Unfortunately, the Nepali media so far has only been interested in the politics and quarrels within the NOC and not on profiling the athletes. NOC is planning to put up billboards of the players, but with time ticking away, it seems to be too late in the game.