Sherlok Drolma (M) at the 20th CPC National Congress [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Sherlok Drolma, the first-ever wrestling world champion from Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, said that her election as a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is an honor and it belongs to everyone in the region's sports sector.

Sherlok Drolma (L) wins the 2015 Liuyang Fireworks Cup & National Women's Freestyle Wrestling Championship in Liuyang, Central China's Hunan province.[Photo/Tibet Daily]

Sherlok Drolma was born into a herdsman's family in Nyingchi of Tibet in October 1987. She grew up with great strength and was recruited by the Sports School of Tibet Autonomous Region to its wrestling training team in 2001. A year later, she started to undergo more rigorous and systematic training.

When asked why she chose wrestling, Sherlok Drolma said that it was funny to find herself in wrestling, and the life in the sports school was fulfilling.

As the shortest member in the wrestling team, she often put in more effort than others. She practiced a simple action for thousands of times on the training mat on a single day. Although it was normal for her to suffer from all types of injuries during the training, she never entertained the idea of giving up.

Sherlok Drolma (R) shows her mettle in a wrestling competition.[Photo/Tibet Daily]

Sherlok Drolma ranked among the top three contestants in a national wrestling championship and qualified for China's national wrestling team in 2009.

She became a gold medalist in the Women's Freestyle 67 kg at the 2011 Wrestling World Championships in Istanbul of Türkiye, making her the first world champion from Tibet.

Moreover, she won a wrestling gold at China's 12th National Games in the 67 kg and a silver medal at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games in 63-kg women's freestyle wrestling.

Sherlok Drolma has been the first Chinese athlete from the autonomous region to bring home a medal of the Asian Games.

Sherlok Drolma is grateful to national policies and her coaches in the sports school for their valuable assistance. She has become a recipient of many medals and a witness to the tremendous development of sports over the past years. She said the fast development of the sports sector in Tibet since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012 has brought positive impact in promoting social stability and supporting high-quality economic development.

Since her retirement from wrestling in 2017, Sherlok Drolma has been mainly involved in managing the autonomous region's competitive sports center.

During the past five years, she has accumulated rich professional knowledge and managerial experiences from participating in the 14th National Games, the second China National Youth Games, and two Tibet Autonomous Region Games as a member of the management team.

The delegation of Tibet autonomous region made history by claiming three gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals at the 14th National Games in Xi'an of Northwest China's Shaanxi province in 2021. What made Sherlok Drolma exceptionally happy was that the equestrian team won its first group gold medal at the National Games since its establishment.

Sherlok Drolma said that the development of mass sports is crucial for China to become a global leader in sports.

According to her, Tibet has fostered 5,547 sports instructors, who are principally involved in pushing for the popularization of square dancing, aerobics and Tai chi martial arts at the grassroots level.

In addition, the autonomous region has attached great importance to the development of competitive sports and taken concrete measures to consolidate its strengths in summer sports and nurture fresh talents in winter sports.

To better fulfill her new obligations as a Party delegate, Sherlok Drolma has conducted several rounds of inspection trips to collect public opinions. She always brought with her a notebook to write down the proposals and ideas of the people for the development of the sports.

Furthermore, she said that she will do her best to perform her duties and promote the Healthy Tibet initiative in the years to come.