Palesha Govardhan has won a historic bronze medal for Nepal in the Paris Paralympics 2024. In the women's under Taekwondo 57 kg event under the K-44 category match held last night, Palesha defeated Serbia's Marija Michev by 15-8 points to bring a coveted bronze medal for herself and the country.
She has become the first Nepali athlete to win a medal in the Paralympics. In the first round match held yesterday, she had defeated Valeria Morales of Venezuela by 31-0 and made it to the quarterfinals. However, she lost to Brazil's Silvana Fernandezong 10-8 in the quarterfinals.
As she was defeated in the second round, she got another chance or repechage, in which she defeated host France's Sefi Carvajnelle by 2-1.
Palesha is also the first Nepali athlete to play in the Paralympics after passing the qualifying round.
Nepal has started participating in the Paralympics since the 2004 Athens Para-Olympics. Palesha started playing taekwondo since the age of 10 and joined the Para national team in 2016. Since then she has participated and won medals in various international competitions.
