Tibetan athlete:- Choeying Kyi and her partner in the race walk mixed relay marathon finished well outside of medal contention on Wednesday, a result she immediately described as “not good, not good, not good!”
But after having a moment to catch her breath, the lone Tibetan athlete at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the only Tibetan ever to win gold said that ultimately she had accomplished something of greater consequence.
"I have participated in four Olympic Games, and I was the only Tibetan representative in all four of them,” Kyi told reporters after completing the race.
“I have persisted for so long because I really want to influence some children. I see more and more Tibetan athletes, and I feel very happy. I think it’s all worth it. This cannot be proven by a medal.”
Kyi and her teammate, He Xianghong, finished 14th in the 42.2-kilometers (26.2 miles) mixed team relay, which made its Olympic debut in Paris on Wednesday. They were among the 25 teams that competed in four roughly 10-km stages with the competitors – man, woman, man, woman – alternating in the race.
He Xianghong faced a three-minute penalty at the 29-km mark for committing three violations of the game’s rules, which caused the team’s ranking to drop sharply.
Kyi and He Xianghong finished the race in 2 hours, 59 minutes and 13 seconds, nearly 10 minutes behind the Spanish team that won but ahead of the other Chinese team that was competing.
Kyi – known as Qieyang Shijie in Chinese – said she knew the penalty would cost her team a medal but that she still pushed hard over her last leg.
“The main thing is to show the spirit of the Chinese team,” she told reporters.
Kyi and He Xianghong won the mixed team’s 35-km race walk at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, in October 2023.
Mixed emotions
Before the race in Paris, Tibetan netizens, including those inside Tibet, extended well wishes to Kyi, referring to her as the “Snow Princess of the Mountains,” “Daughter of the Snowland” and “Pride of the Tibetan Race.”
Along the route at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, Tibetan Parisians waved the Tibetan national flag as she raced past and shouted “Choeying Kyi, Go for it!” Afterward, some expressed mixed emotions about the scene.
“As a Tibetan, I was overwhelmed with joy to be able to witness a Tibetan girl taking part in this race at the Paris Olympics,” said Tenzin Namgyal, a Paris resident.
“But I was also overcome with sadness and a deep hope that one day Tibetan athletes will represent Tibet proudly under the Tibetan national flag. And I pray that such a day would come for Tibetans.”
Online, Tibetans expressed similar feelings.
“In sports, it is not important to be the first. It’s the joy and pride and inspiration she brought to 6 million Tibetans,” Loten Namling, a Tibetan living in Switzerland, wrote on Facebook.
“Even if she had won the gold medal, China would have taken it away from her, but China cannot take away the joy and inspiration she gave to her people! This is a victory more valuable than a gold medal,” he said.
Kyi was born in 1990 to humble beginnings in Haiyan County in Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province but rose to be among the best in her sport.
She competed in the previous three Olympic Games in London, Rio and Tokyo. In 2012, Kyi originally finished third in the women’s 20-km race walk, earning a bronze medal.
But 11 years later she made history when she was awarded the gold after the original first and second-place finishers were disqualified due to doping violations. Kyi also won a silver medal in the 20-km race at the 13th National Games in China in 2017.
“I felt both happy and sad when I heard the news,” Kyi wrote on social media upon hearing the news in 2023 that she was an Olympic champion.
“I’m happy because I could be the champion I am in my heart and I could have an Olympic gold medal. But I'm also regretful as I didn't experience what an Olympic gold medalist should have experienced.”
"Let bygones be bygones, and I will always try to work hard to get what I want,” she added. “Tomorrow is a new beginning and a fresh start. Thank you all for your support and blessings over the years. May you all be healthy, safe and happy.” RFA/SP
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