Making his second appearance at the Summer Olympics at the age of 23, Jung Shah was notable for carrying the flag of Nepal at the opening and closing ceremonies. He qualified for the Games by receiving a universality place from swimming's world governing body FINA because his fastest time of 27.30 seconds, set at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, was 4.57 seconds slower than the "B" qualifying standard for the men's 50 metres freestyle. Shah sustained a minor shoulder injury heading during his training sessions going into the event but recovered and stated that he wanted to attempt to improve on his personal best time. He participated in the event's third heat on 2 August, finishing seventh out of eight swimmers, with a time of 26.93 seconds. Shah finished 47th out of 58 competitors overall, and did not advance into the semi-final because he was 4.66 seconds behind the slowest swimmer who made the later stages. Despite setting a new personal best time Shah said he was disappointed with his performance.