The Bhutan Olympic Committee (BOC) was created on 23 November 1983 with the 4th

King of Bhutan The Druk Gyalpo (; 'Dragon King') is the head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are known as ''Druk ...

as its President, with its headquarters at

Thimphu Thimphu (; dz, ཐིམ་ཕུག ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's ''dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

. Following this recognition, Bhutan participated for the first time in the 1984 Olympic Games held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

when three men and three women

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

represented Bhutan. The Bhutan Olympic Committee is one of only 205

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

s created by the Olympic Organization. National Olympic Committee (NOC) is created in each country of the world. NOC is one of the three constituents of the Olympic Movement together with the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) and International Sport Federations. The objective of the NOC is to “develop, promote and protect the Olympic Movement in the country...”

Membership

Apart from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Bhutan is also a member of Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC),

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Olympic Council of Asia The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. The current Acting President is Raja Randhir Singh, substituting Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah. The headquarter ...

(OCA),

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. Affiliated sports federations of Bhutan are the Bhutan Amateur Athletic Federation, Bhutan Boxing Federation, Bhutan Football Federation, Bhutan Table Tennis Federation and Bhutan Tennis Federation, all located in Thimphu. In July 2003, the Department for Youth, Culture & Sports was established under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Government of Bhutan, with the objective to develop “a holistic approach and policy for sports and social development. Bhutan”. Bhutan now has 14 sports federations in which 100,000 (amateur) sports practitioners are members. Bhutan and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

have been involved in an active cooperation programme since 2001. Under this programme, archery, a national sport in Bhutan, is receiving a countrywide boost. The intention is towards the Olympic Games of 2012 to achieve status of Bhutan as one of the leading countries in Olympic archery. The bilateral cooperation has resulted in publication of a book, in 2004, on traditional and modern archery in Bhutan and the Netherlands, and a documentary film on Bhutan Olympic Archery to be screened in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and international channels. Similar cooperation has been extended to

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

by the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) In 2004 the

Bhutan Archery Federation The Bhutan Archery Federation is an organization that occupies itself with the conservation and further development of traditional archery in Bhutan. The sporting body also governs Olympic archery in Bhutan. The federation was founded in 1971 in ...

was honored with a

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

from the Netherlands.

History

After the formation of the Bhutan Olympic Committee on 23 November 1983, they participated in the

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

event of the Olympic Games 1984 held in

. Six archers from Bhutan, three men and three women, participated in the event. Since then Bhutan has participated in the Summer Games held in the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. Bhutan has also participated in the

2010 Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

Tshering Chhoden along with veteran archer Jubzang participated in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

held in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. In the 2004 Games held in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, which marked the return of the games to the location of the first modern Olympics, two archers, Tshering Choden and Tashi Peljor (second participation), represented Bhutan. They reached the second round of the qualifying round for the first time. Two student athletes, Kunzang Chhoden and Sonam Tobgay also were part of this team as archers selected for the Olympic Youth Camp.

Sports

Changlimithang Archery Ground, Thimphu 06

For each Olympic Summer Games since 1984, Bhutan has fielded male and female archers.

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

is the national sport of Bhutan. They have never competed in the Winter Games or the other events of the Summer Games; they also have not yet won an Olympic medal. While archery is the national sport of Bhutan and the only sport in which it participates in the Olympics, other popular sports in the country are

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. Adventure sports such as

trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back, while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey, and may involve camping outdoors. In North America tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain h ...

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

and

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

are also popular. Archery is very popular throughout Bhutan — each village has an archery range. However, until recently its equipment base was traditional (hand-carved bamboo bows); these have now been replaced by modern and high-tech equipment for international games.

Documentary

A documentary film known as “The Other Final” was filmed based on a special football match arranged by

Fédération Internationale de Football Association FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

(FIFA) that was played between the 202nd placed (out of 203 worldwide) Bhutan and 203rd-ranked

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Sports governing bodies in Bhutan

Oly Oly may refer to: * Oly, informal name for Olympia, Washington, United States * OLY (: ), postnominals granted to participants in the Olympics People with the name * Oly (born 1992), American singer-songwriter and musician * Oly Hicks (born 1968) ...