File picture of a campaign for the Olympic games next year. (Below) Members of Team Tibet

Darjeeling, July 10: A group of sportsmen with Tibetan roots will haunt the Chinese Olympic dream next year.

Team Tibet — comprising nine players from different disciplines — hopes to compete in the Beijing Olympics under the “Tibetan flag”. The sporting event is scheduled to begin in the Chinese capital on August 8, 2008.

“Team Tibet is formed of highly-skilled Tibetan athletes living in exile, who dream of competing under their nation’s flag in the Olympics. Once the team is complete, it will seek authorisation from the International Olympic Committee to participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympics,” reads an e-mail sent to The Telegraph by Freya Putt, the Olympic Campaign Coordinator of the International Tibet Support Network, one of the organisations behind the team. Putt is based in Montreal, Canada.

The team, which was officially announced in Switzerland on July 6, is made up of players currently residing in Switzerland and India. They hope to represent their “occupied country” in shot-put, table tennis, marathon, basketball and various track and field events.

The Team Tibet members, who have been exposed to sports meets at various levels, have written about their reasons for joining the team and posted them at www.supportteamtibet.org — a site created for the purpose.

According to Tsultrim Dolma Gope, a 25-year-old clerk, who has registered as a shot-put participant with Team Tibet, the motivation came while representing Switzerland at the Youth Olympics held in Denmark when she was young. “It was a fantastic feeling to enter the stadium along with other Swiss athletes. I was proud. Nevertheless, I thought how wonderful it would be to enter the stadium under the Tibetan flag and with a Tibetan team.”

Paddler Dominik Erne Kelsang, writes: “It was during a trip to Dharamsala that I felt an urgent need to learn more about my Tibetan roots. Back in Switzerland, I got in touch with other Tibetans and joined the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe.” The 26-year-old was vice-champion of Switzerland (singles U13 and team U15) and champion (team U18) and hopes his experience will aid his team.

While participation in the Olympics might still be a far cry, the youngsters are at the moment fired by the thought of providing an alternative mode of protest through the language of sports.

To start with, the four associations behind Team Tibet — Tibet Women’s Association, National Democratic Party of India, Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet and Students for a Free Tibet — are already planning an International Run for Tibet Marathon in New Delhi on August 4 this year. Participants from across the globe are expected take part in the race.

“We are currently in the process of obtaining permission for the same and hope to give prize money,” Tsering Choedup, the regional coordinator (South Asia) of the Tibetan network, said over phone from Dharamsala.