Five different corporate houses on Tuesday jointly announced a monthly cash incentives of Rs 60,000 for one year to athlete Ajit Kumar Yadav, who claimed a historic gold medal at the third Asian Youth Championships in Hong Kong on March 17.

Yadav had secured the men’s 3,000m title to become the first Nepali athlete to win gold at an official event of the Asian Athletics Association. He clocked 8 minutes 30.32 seconds to finish almost six second ahead of second-placed Amit Jangir of India. Nabil Bank CEO Anil Keshari Shah made the announcement on behalf of corporate houses at a felicitation programme organised by Nepal Athletics Association (NAA) in Kathmandu. Nabil Bank, Bajaj Motorbike, Vijay Distillery, Annapurna Group of Hotel and Goldstar Shoes have all agreed to deposit Rs 12,000 per month at the athlete’s bank account.

NAA feted the 17-year-old Yadav with a two-wheeler while his coach Dhani Ram Chaudhary, who did not attend the ceremony due to death of his brother, will be provided Rs 100,000. “The incentives will definitely motivate me. I will try to do even better in future and make the nation proud,” said Yadav complaining of a proper training facility in the country. Yadav added: “Winning gold was like a dream come true. I was myself not expecting to achieve the feat. But after the success I believe we are in no way weaker than any opponent. What is pushing us back in the lack of proper training facilities.”

Nabil Bank CEO Shah said Nepal desperately needed heroes like Yadav. “Your hard work has made the country proud. You are on your way to scale even greater height,” said Shah. Shekhar Golchha, the managing director of Hansaraj Hulaschand and Company, said it was just the beginning for Yadav as the athlete can achieve more success with his hard work and dedication. Golchha also stressed on the need of corporate houses working together with sports sector.

NAA President Rajiv Bikram Shah said: “Yadav proved what he was capable of despite training in sub-standard synthetic track of Dashrath Stadium. The achievement we have got at the Asian level has proved that we could get even better results at the international level provided we ensure bigger investment and scientific training methods.”