Tibetans enjoy 'Parallel Olympics'

Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh), May 25 :On the third day of the Tibetan Olympics, the main attraction was a swimming competition that was held in village Sidhpur near Dharamshala.

The Tibetans, who are not natural swimmers due to the hilly terrain they reside in, said that they were very excited about the swimming round, as it was a great challenge for them.

"It is a very good opportunity for all, specially for the Tibetan girls as Beijing Olympics will not see much participation," said Dawa, the winner.

On May 22, a handful of exiled Tibetans in India began competing in the "Tibetan Olympics", an event high on symbolism meant to mock at China, the host of Olympics in August.

The Tibetan games are another form of innovative protests by the exilesgainst the Chinese crackdown after the Lhasa unrest in March this year . Nearly 150,000 Tibetans live in India, which has also hosted the Dalai Lama since he fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against China.

The Dalai Lama supports the Beijing Olympic Games and has no plans to attend this alternative event.

Dharamsala has been the epicentre of Tibetan protests which have dogged theeijing Olympic torch relay across the world.

The Tibetans said that their version of the Olympics was aimed to show their resolve to participate in the real thing some day.

Primarily a show funded by Wangyal, the Tibetan Olympics is being covered by a small group of journalists, including the western media.

ANI