As the 2012 London Olympics kicked-off with a colorful opening ceremony there is one man, who will be closely following the performance of the two Bhutanese athletes passionately. His is Ngawang Pelzang, now 61 and lives in Kanglung. Why?
He was one of the first Bhutanese to represent Bhutan in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Six archers represented Bhutan to the Olympics for the first time then.
In 1979, after winning the National Archery Tournament championship title, he was chosen for the Olympic selection. From 38 participants, six of them, including three women were selected, to represent Bhutan.
“Since it was our first ever experience, it was like a dream. We have never heard of it or seen it before so we were pretty lost and went through cultural shock. But few days stay and we blended in well,” he recalls.
Today, Ngawang Pelzang runs the only cable service in Kanglung. He is still passionate when it comes to archery. He has been playing archery since he was 12 years.
His prized possessions, the medals, trophies, certificates and souvenirs that he won from each match he played are displayed in his house. His favourite among those collections is the ‘robin hood arrow’, an arrow hit right through the first one at bull’s eye.
Compared to the year he participated, Ngawang Pelzang says archery has improved a lot in the Country. “Well from my years of experience, with access to all kinds of training I do hope they won’t come back empty hand. I think they should, I know they can!”
Although it’s almost three decades since his participation in the Olympic, he is very excited and hopeful from the participants at this year’s London Olympics.
“The improvement is so much. They have all the facilities. During our times although lots of us had potential and passion, we lacked equipment and proper trainings,” he says.
Whether Bhutan wins medals or not, Ngawang Pelzang will be cherishing his moments by closely following the Bhutanese participants at the London Olympics through television.
