President Ramchandra Poudel inaugurated the 16th Central President's Running Shield Games at a program organized at Dasharath Stadium on Wednesday.

President Poudel inaugurated the competition by lighting the Olympic torch. The President handed over the torch to Olympian badminton player Prince Dahal. Along with the Prince, Olympian athletics Saraswati Bhattarai, weightlifting Kamal Bahadur Adhikari, and athletics Santoshi Shrestha took turns carrying the torch around the track.

President Poudel said that sports would make a significant contribution to the spirit of national unity and the expansion of international relations. The President clarified that in the present era, sports are not limited to competition, profession, fame, and recognition.  

Minister for Education and Sports Sasmit Pokharel reminded that the competition has been held since the school level with the aim of strengthening the foundation of sports and said that the President's Running Shield is a great and important means of identifying hidden talents at the school level and making them national and international level players.

Member-Secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC) Ramcharitra Mehta said that this competition has connected talented youth from every corner of the country to the mainstream of sports by reaching the center through cities, districts and provinces.

A total of 686 players, 98 from all seven provinces, are participating in the competition. There will be a competition for 66 gold medals in the competition, which includes 6 different sports. There will be 26 in athletics, 2-2 in volleyball and kabaddi, and 12-12 in karate, taekwondo and wushu.

The 17th edition of the competition will be held in Koshi Province from Falgun 19 to 22. President Poudel handed over the flag to Biplav Ghosh, Member-Secretary of the Provincial Sports Development Board, Koshi.

Avinash and Bhagwati's record

Avinash Sunar and Bhagwati Khadka have set a junior national record in the athletics section of the 16th Central President's Running Shield. At the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwor, Avinash set a record in the boys' high jump and Bhagwati in the girls' 400-meter race. Both are players from Bagmati Province.

Avinash jumped 1.86 meters, improving his own record of 1.82 meters. Avinash had set the record of 1.82 meters last week in the Bagmati Province-level President's Running Shield. Tanka Yadav of Koshi came second and Sanun Chaudhary of Gandaki came third. In the girls' category, Aradhya Chalise of Gandaki and Sunita Parki of Sudurpaschim became joint winners. Both exceeded 1.43 meters in height. Sushmita Basnet of Koshi came third.

In the girls' 400-meter race, Bhagwati set a record by completing the prescribed distance in 58.94 seconds in the heat stage. Earlier, the record of 1 minute 01.19 seconds was in the name of Sangeeta Bik of Sudurpaschim. In the final, Bhagwati won the gold in 59.11 seconds. Anisha Tharu of Bagmati came second and Roshni Kami of Lumbini came third. In the boys' event, Neeraj Shah of Bagmati won the gold medal. He covered the distance in 50.94 seconds. Atit Thapa of Gandaki came second and Ankit Ranabhat of Gandaki came third.

In the boys' 100-meter race organized by the National Sports Council (NSPC), Prabin Rana of Bagmati won the gold medal. He covered the distance in 10.46 seconds. Suresh Chaudhary of Sudurpaschim won the silver and Bhagwandas Lohar of Lumbini won the bronze. In the girls' event, Garima Chaudhary of Lumbini won the gold medal in 13.50 seconds. Ashika Chaudhary of Lumbini won the silver and Suruchi Moktan of Bagmati won the bronze.

Hasta Sunar of Bagmati won the boys' 1500-meter race in 4 minutes 13.7 seconds. Arvindra Kumar Yadav of Lumbini came second and Anil Shahi of Karnali came third. In the same category, Sudurpaschim's Asmita Dhanuk won the gold in 5 minutes 13.9 seconds. Lumbini's Anjuli Malla won the silver and Bagmati's Sharmila Bik won the bronze.

In the shot put, Bagmati's Mahendra KC won the gold with a throw of 13.40 meters. Lumbini's Rajan Bhandari won the silver and Karnali's Ananta Bik won the bronze. Sudurpaschim's Pooja Saud won the gold with a throw of 9.60 meters in the girls' event. Bagmati's Manmaya Thingle and Apsara Shrestha won the bronze.