Multi-tasking Sherpa stresses Olympic values

Reuters/Rosa Khutor, Russia

Quietly sipping tea at the base of the Laura biathlon and cross-country skiing complex, the rough-faced Sherpa told Reuters yesterday he is taking part in a cross-country event at the Sochi Games to spread the Olympic spirit.

“I read people’s faces. And I see a lot of stress,” he said. “Athletes at the Olympics are stressed because they want a medal. They eat fast, go to sleep and perform, that’s all. Do they still know anything about the Olympic values?”

Sherpa’s life epitomises the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship. Born in a village perched at 2,700 metres, at the foot of Mount Everest, Sherpa, who entered a Buddhist monastery at the age of six, took part in his first ultra race in 1994 before winning the Himal Race, a 1,200km trek featuring 40,000 metres of height difference, in 2002.

That is where his Olympic journey started. “I was spotted by the Nepal National Olympic Committee after an ultra trail race in the Himalayas,” said Sherpa, who has lived in Geneva since getting married in 1998.

“In November 2002, they asked me to take part in the Asian Games and I asked in which event. They told me cross-country skiing because I lived in Switzerland. I had seen some people ski but I had never skied myself.”

It was not Sherpa’s biggest problem.

“I live in Geneva and there was no snow at that time so I had to wait for it to start training,” he recalled.

“By the time the Games started, I had done six two-hour training sessions.”

Sherpa did not exactly shine in the 30km freestyle event in Aomori, Japan.

“There were a lot of curves. I fell three times.”

But the Nepal Olympic Committee did not hold a grudge, telling him he could perhaps take part in the 2006 Turin Olympics. “The ‘perhaps’ was confusing. I did not hear from them for a long time so I assumed I was not going to the Olympics.”

Sherpa was eventually told he was going to Turin. He had enough time for decent preparations but ran into a spot of bother four days before the Games.

“They told me I should not do the 50km freestyle because there were some 2km and 3km loops and when you are overtaken by the leader you’re eliminated and sort of erased from the records,” he explained.

“So I was entered in the 15km classic, a style I had never practised before.”

Sherpa still managed to avoid last place, finishing 94th out of 99 despite four crashes, and he improved in the 2010 Vancouver Games by taking 92nd place.

Although he is one of the best ultra-race athletes, Sherpa could not be less concerned by performance.

“I just don’t get the concept,” said the man who waited for other runners for hours at the finish after winning the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc, a 166km race through the Alps, in 20 hours five minutes.  

In his spare time, Sherpa has a few projects on the go.

“I have supported 10 orphans in Nepal. Three of them are now nurses and the seven others still depend on me,” he said.

Sherpa also opened a monastic school in his father’s village, before having a reservoir built so everyone could enjoy fresh drinking water.

“I’ve also teamed up with a group of doctors to have a clinic built in a village,” he added.

But Sherpa is not quite done yet as he would love his country to have a cross-country skiing course.

“I don’t know how much that costs. I just hope my participation in the Olympics can inspire some young Nepalese.”

There is one more problem. “Some 80 per cent of the population simply can’t watch the Olympics on TV,” he said calmly.

He will not just surrender, though. “If you have the possibility to help people who have less than you, you just do it,” he explained.

“When we go, we just go with a piece of clothing, you take nothing to your grave. When I see my life flash in front of my eyes, I just want to see a smile.”