Teen-aged swimmer Gaurika Singh and cricketer Dipendra Singh Airee were among the five athletes unveiled by the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) on Monday for the People’s Choice Award under the Pulsar Sports Award.

NSJF honours athletes and sports personalities for their achievements over the past one year and People’s Choice Award is one of the eight categories decided through SMS voting and facebook likes. While the nominees of male, female, coach and youth categories will be announced in a due course, winners of para-athlete, lifetime achievement and special award will be declared directly during the award ceremony which is slated for September 11 at the Nepal Academy Hall. Other athletes to be nominated for the People’s Choice Award were judoka Phupu Lhamu Khatri, footballer Sujal Shrestha and long distance runner Kanchi Maya Koju.

At 13 and  255 days, Singh became the youngest Olympian at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Singh, who is the only swimmer to win one silver and three individual bronze medals in Nepal’s South Asian Games history, made headlines globally for the unique appearance.

Airee has created a buzz in Nepali cricket establishing himself as a middle order batsman and is touted as the new generation cricketer. He had a successful year with the bat making 357 runs from eight matches—five of them with the national team—he played. Airee had slammed a half century in his debut tournament for the national team against Kenya in the ICC World Cricket League Championship. He had four half centuries last year, three of them while representing Nepal. One of the most consistent performers in Nepali cricket, Airee struck two half centuries in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Bangladesh and one against hosts Sri Lanka in the ACC U-19 Asia Cup.

Judoka Khatri also represented Nepal in the Rio Olympics and claimed bronze medal in the 17th Asian Junior Judo Championships in Kochi, India. She had also claimed gold in the seventh National Games. Khatri has been one of the biggest names in Nepali judo for the last few years.

Footballer Shrestha was the part of the national team that claimed the AFC Solidarity Cup in Malaysia. He scored the deciding goal against Macau in the title match. Apart from that international feat, he has helped his side Manang Marshyangdi Club win the Duhabi, Aaha-Rara Gold Cup and Jhapa Gold Cup football tournaments. He was named best player in Duhabi and best midfielder in Aaha-Rara Gold Cup.

Long distance runner Koju claimed five half marathon titles last year and set new national records in both the 42.195kms full marathon and half marathon. She

claimed gold in Kathmandu Marathon with a new national record of 2:55:57 and set another record of 1:18:26 while winning the Pinkathon—a half marathon event. She also claimed two gold medals and a silver in the seventh National Games.

NSJF, meanwhile, also signed memorandum of understanding with THT Live, the voting partner of the event, and Avenues Television, the official broadcasters of the Sports Award.