Kinzang Lhamo (born 15 June 1998) is a Bhutanese

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

and

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

runner.

Career

Lhamo specialises in ultramarathons. She had a second place finish at the 2022 Snowman Race, a 5-day ultra-marathon at Chamkhar in Bumthang across the Himalayan mountains. That year, she finished second at the Coronation Marathon in

Paro, Bhutan Paro () is a town and seat of Paro District, in the Paro Valley of Bhutan. It is an historic town with many sacred sites and historical buildings scattered throughout the area. It is also home to Paro International Airport, Bhutan's sole internat ...

. In 2023, Lhamo won the Bhutan International marathon. The following year, she retained her title at the 10th edition of the Bhutan International Marathon in

Punakha Punakha () is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thim ...

and set a personal best time of 3 hours and 26 minutes. In 2024, she was awarded a universality place to represent Bhutan in the

at the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. It marked her first competition outside of Bhutan. In preparation for the event, Lhamo trained in

Thimphu Thimphu (; ) is the 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 capital city of Punakha was replac ...

with the help of the Bhutan Amateur Athletic Federation. She completed the marathon in 80th with a time of 3:52:59; despite finishing in last place, she received an overwhelming standing ovation from spectators, praising her willing determination to finish the event. Although she was nearly an hour behind the next closest finisher, her time placed her in the top 20th percentile of all marathon racers and was not far off the earliest female record holders.

Personal life

From

Trashigang Trashigang (), or Tashigang, meaning "fortress of auspicious mount," is a town in eastern Bhutan and the district capital of the Trashigang Dzongkhag (district). The town lies to the east side of the valley above the Drangme Chhu river just s ...

, Lhamo is a soldier in the Royal Bhutanese Army, stationed in Haa in the west of the country.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lhamo, Kinzang Bhutanese female marathon runners Living people 1998 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Bhutan