Sport in Bhutan
Bhutan is a culturally rich country and as such, you can expect them to have a lot of activities or traditional sports that are an integral part of their society. The primary Bhutanese traditional sport is without any doubt archery.
They also played degor (similar to discuss), pungdo (a bit like shot put), khuru (like the indoor sport dart), Soksum (javelin-throwing), and of course keshi (a lot like all around wrestling). As one can imagine, their traditional sports have the athletics feel that mixes not just brute strength but a high level of concentration as well.
Their modern sport favorite is definitely football and cricket which has increased in popularity among the Bhutanese since the introduction of various television channels mostly from India. They also play other sports like indoor football and futsal. Bhutan’s national cricket team first made their mark in the world when they made the quarter finals of the 2004 ACC Trophy.
Bhutan has only opened their doors recently and their first Olympic participation was in the 1984 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles, California. Up until the 2008 Olympics, the only game that Bhutan has participated in was archery. But that all changed when Kunzang Choden joined the women's 10m air-rifle event in the 2012 London Olympics for Bhutan. They are yet to take home an Olympic medal though.
Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to Bhutan. Is there something missing? If you know of something that should be listed here, please let us know.
Popular sports of Bhutan
- Football (Soccer), Archery, Cricket, futsal
Traditional or Regional Sports
- Digor — a sport from Bhutan in which a pair of spherical flat stones that are hurled at two targets fixed in the ground at a distance of about 20 meters apart.
- pungdo (a bit like shot put), khuru (like the indoor sport dart), Soksum (javelin-throwing), and of course keshi (a lot like all around wrestling).
Bhutan Sporting Success
Great athletes from Bhutan
- Kunzang Choden (shooting)
Bhutan Sports trivia
- First Olympic participation was in the 1984 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles, though up until the 2008 Olympics, the only evet that Bhutan participated in was archery.
Bhutan at major events
Past sporting events hosted in Bhutan
Upcoming sporting events in Bhutan
Annual sporting events held in Bhutan
Sporting Facilities in Bhutan
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