Nirjala Tamrakar

Last updated
Nirjala Tamrakar
Worldcup France 2012.jpg
UCI World Cup Finals, France, 2012
Personal information
Full nameNirjala Tamrakar
NicknameMountain Queen
Born (1979-08-24) 24 August 1979 (age 45)
Kathmandu, Nepal
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineCross Country and Endurance
RoleRider and qualified UCI Coach
Rider typeProfessional (RETIRED)
Professional teams
2001-2012National Team (NP)
?Qoroz (UK)

Nirjala Tamrakar AKA "Mountain Queen" (born 24 August 1979) is the First female, Nepalese, X-Country, Mountain Biking, Champion from 2001 to 2012 (12 years).

Contents

Personal

Born in Kumari Pati in Kathmandu, Nepal. Nirjala is one of 2 children, with a younger brother who is a keen road biker. Nirjala started out in her late teens as a professional model. For this career she was required to keep fit and it was through going to the gym that she got into first body building and then cycling. In 2001 some friends suggested she try her luck in a mountain bike race "The Himalayan Mountain Bike Race Series" and she won the National Women's Category. This proved to be her inspiration to leave modelling and pursue a professional career as a Cyclist for the Nepal National Team. Nirjala's rise to fame and to working as a professional Athlete for the Nepal National Team was beset by difficulty that arose from the Patriarchy based society in which she grew up in. Although she competed at a National and International Level and at a higher Level than the majority of Nepalese Male riders she was marginalized by her own National Cycling Association who found sponsors and endorsement for her male counterparts. Despite this she continued and found her own sponsors (like Qoroz Professional Titanium Bikes) . She is now a key note speaker and role model for young women in Nepal and all over the World who have grown up in oppressive societies but dream of being recognized for their sports and achievements. The British writer "Jane Nobel Knight" wrote a book titled "The Inspiring Journeys of Pilgrim Mothers" and included a chapter on Nirjala's struggle and eventual success in her field . Nirjala is now Married to "Daniel Wright" (British) and has a son "Percy". She is also a respected Mandala Artist (3 time Nepal National, Street Mandala Winner) and holds a Masters in Business Studies MBS.

Race history

Notable achievements

  1. First Nepalese Woman to cycle 22 days from Lhasa (Tibet) to Everest Base Camp (North) to Kathmandu (Nepal)
  2. First female to Win (2 times) the Highest Altitude, Endurance race in the World "The Yak Attack"
  3. First Nepalese Female to win a cycle race in the UK
  4. First Nepalese Cycle Athlete to compete in a UCI World Cup Finals
  5. First Nepalese Cycle Athlete to compete in South Asian Games
  6. First Nepalese Woman to complete a cycle race of the Annapurna Circuit
  7. Recipient of the - "Tamrakar Award Fund" - Ugrachandi Award (Nepal)
  8. 1st Nepalese Athlete (male or female) to complete a full distance Triathlon - UK 2021

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triathlon</span> Swimming, cycling, and distance running race

A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the disciplines included. The word is of Greek origin, from τρεῖς, 'three', and ἆθλος, 'competition'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironman Triathlon</span> Series of long-distance triathlon races

An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.2 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.2 km) run completed in that order, a total of 140.6 miles (226.3 km). It is widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildflower Triathlon</span>

The Wildflower Triathlon was a triathlon held at Lake San Antonio in Central California from 1983 to 2019, the first winner being Dean "The Machine" Harper. It was held the first weekend in May each year.

Michelle Dumaresq is a Canadian professional downhill mountain bike competitor and trans woman. She competes with other professional female downhill mountain bike racers. She entered the sport in 2001, six years after completing gender reassignment surgery, when she was discovered riding on Vancouver's North Shore by several top women mountain bikers. Dumaresq is open about gender identity.

An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting of a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, a 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and a 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run. Each distance of the swim, bike, and run segments is half the distance of that segment in an Ironman Triathlon. The Ironman 70.3 series culminates each year with a World Championship competition, for which competitors qualify during the 70.3 series in the 12 months prior to the championship race. In addition to the World Championship race, Ironman 70.3 championship competitions are also held for the European, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chrissie Wellington</span> English triathlete

Christine Ann Wellington is an English former professional triathlete and four-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion. She held all three world and championship records relating to ironman-distance triathlon races: firstly, the overall world record, secondly, the Ironman World Championship course record, and thirdly, the official world record for all Ironman-branded triathlon races over the full Ironman distance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Pooley</span> British cyclist

Emma Jane Pooley is a British-Swiss athlete in multiple sports. A former professional cyclist who specialised in time trials and hilly races, she later transferred to endurance running, duathlon and triathlon, and was four-times world champion in long-distance duathlon. She competes in long-distance and uphill mountain running and has represented Switzerland at the world trailrunning championships.

Yvonne McGregor MBE is a female English former professional cyclist from Wibsey. She was made an MBE, for services to cycling, in the 2002 New Year Honours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terri Schneider</span>

Terri Schneider is an endurance athlete, motivational speaker, author, coach, and consultant. In 1990, she won the Escape from Alcatraz and took third place at the 1990 Ironman World Championship.

Amy Palmiero-Winters is a below-knee amputee, long-distance runner, and triathlete. She holds eleven world records in various events. In 2010, she was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States and the ESPN ESPY Award as the top female athlete with a disability in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Last</span> British cross-country mountain biker

Annie Last, is an English professional cyclist, representing Great Britain and England, who specialises in mountain biking and cyclo-cross. She was chosen as a female competitor in the cross country mountain bike event for the Great Britain team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, going on to take 8th place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's</span>

The women's triathlon was one of the triathlon events at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. It took place on 4 August 2012, featuring 55 women from 31 countries. It was the fourth appearance of an Olympic women's triathlon event since the first at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The race was around Hyde Park, a 1.42 km2 park in central London. The race was held over the "international distance" and consisted of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) swimming, 43 kilometres (27 mi) road cycling, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) road running.

The World Triathlon Championship Series is an annual series of triathlon events organised by World Triathlon. The series is used to crown an annual world champion since 2008. Previously, the ITU world champion between 1989 and 2008 had been decided in a single annual championship race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire Michel</span> Belgian triathlete

Claire Michel is a Belgian professional triathlete. She is the 2013 Aquathlon vice-World Champion. She has been named Belgian Triathlon's Female Athlete of the Year twice, in 2014 and 2015, she's part of the National Team and represented Belgium at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. She is also Belgian Champion on Sprint distance for 2016.

The 2016 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition that was held on October 8, 2016 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. It was won by Jan Frodeno of Germany and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland, both repeat champions from 2015. The race was the 40th edition of the Ironman World Championship, which has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and awarded a total purse prize of $650,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 South Asian Games</span> XIII South Asian Games

The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was held from 1–10 December 2019, coincidentally at the same time as the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. The new dates were confirmed at the South Asian Olympic Council Executive Board meeting in Bangkok on 1 March 2019. The Dasarath Stadium hosted the opening ceremony along with the men's football tournament, with the stadium's renovation after the 2015 earthquake completed in under 10 months with an increased capacity of 20,000, along with the closing ceremony on 10 December.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hana Kolářová</span> Czech triathlete

Hana Kolářová is a Czech professional triathlete. She is awarded as a junior national champion in 2007 and the Czech Triathlon Series winner in 2012. She lives in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixed-sex sports</span> Sports in which the participants are not limited to one gender only

Mixed-sex sports are individual and team sports whose participants are not of a single sex. In many organised sports settings, rules dictate an equal number of people of each sex in a team. Usually, the main purpose of these rules are to account for physiological sex differences. Mixed-sex sports in informal settings are typically groups of neighbours, friends or family playing without regard to the sex of the participants. Mixed-sex play is also common in youth sports as before puberty and adolescence, sport-relevant sex differences affect performance far less.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pragnya Mohan</span> Indian triathlete

Pragnya Mohan is an Indian triathlete from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In Birmingham 2022, she led India's triathlon debut at the Commonwealth Games. She is India's highest ever ranked triathlete in the world. She is widely considered India's best bet for triathlon debut at the Olympic Games. In 2019, she became the first triathlete to represent India in the Triathlon World Cup. She is the current and multiple times South Asian and National Triathlon Champion and has won gold medals at the South Asian Games and the National Games.

The 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series was the 13th season of the World Triathlon Championship Series, the top level international series for triathlon, since its establishment in 2009. The season consisted of four pairs of triathlon races for both a men's and women's competition, beginning on May 15 in Yokohama, and concluding on August 21 with the grand final in Edmonton. The series calendar also included the 2020 Summer Olympics individual races on July 26 and 27 and mixed relay event on July 31.

References