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Kathmandu, August 15. Taekwondo athlete Palesha Govardhan won a historic bronze medal at the Paralympic Games on Friday. She won the medal by defeating Serbia’s Maria Misev 15-8 in the women’s under 57kg K44 category.
Although Nepal started participating in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, it did not win a medal. Nepali athletes’ participation in the Olympics was limited to participation. But Palesha ended her long journey of 6 years without winning a medal in the Olympics and became the first Nepali athlete to win a medal in the Olympics.
However, Palesha was expected to win a gold medal at the Paralympics. But she ended that golden opportunity in the quarterfinals when she failed to save an 8-6 lead over Brazilian Silvana Mayara Fernandez. After Fernandez scored four consecutive points with a body kick, Palesha lost 10-8.
In the first match, Palesha defeated Venezuelan player Morales 31-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. In the bronze medal match, Palesha fell behind 8-7 after a 7-7 tie.
That scene reminded her of the match against Chinese athletes for the bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics. Despite her best performance, she lost to Chinese player Li Yuji 12-9 and missed the bronze medal. At that time, she couldn’t cope with the last 10 seconds when the score was tied at 9-9, so she lost.
She didn’t want to lose because she was so close to that historic medal again. With 49 seconds left, Palesha was trailing 8-7. With 22 seconds left, she led 11-8 and won 15-8 to make history.
After the victory, he and his coach Kaviraj Negi Lama circled under the Nepali flag. The audience applauded. ‘I feel very happy and proud. My dream when I was 10 years old has come true when I was 21. ‘I want to thank all my teachers,’ she said after her historic win.
She said this success is not only hers but also Nepal’s. Not only me, but every Nepali can proudly say we have a medal. “This bronze is also very important for us,” said Paresha.
Excluding the Paralympics, 92 athletes have competed in the Olympics over the past six years. Taekwondo athletes Sangina Vaidya (2004), Deepak Bishta (2008) and table tennis player Santu Shrestha are the only athletes to qualify and compete in the Olympics. All other athletes competed in the Olympics through quotas.
Nepal has participated in the Paralympics since 2004. Paresha is the first athlete to participate in the Paralympics after qualifying for the Paralympics. She won the gold medal in the Asian qualifiers for the Paralympics held in Tai’an, China in March last year and participated in the Paris Paralympics.
She made history last year by winning a bronze medal in the Women’s K-44 under 57kg category at the Asian Para Games in Huangzhou, China. This was Nepal’s first medal at the Asian Para Games. She also holds the record at the Olympics.
She is certain that Nepali athletes can win medals at the Olympics. “The Nepali government used to say that only good games and good performances are needed. But no one believed that he would bring a medal,” he said. “I did it. The other players are also very capable. If they also get many opportunities, Nepal will win more than a thousand medals.”
Before competing in the Paralympics, she practiced for a month in Manchester, England, with the help of the Nepal Taekwondo Association. She said it helped her a lot. “If I can achieve so much in a month, then if other people can do it, they can too,” she said.
Who is Palesa?
Palesha was born on July 25, 2003. Mother Manita and father Pradeep could not express their joy and surprise at the birth of their daughter because his left wrist below was not well developed at birth.
Because of his condition, his parents, who live in Baghbazar, Kathmandu, have to listen to a lot of things from the society. I hear more bad things than good things. Palesha is also teased by his friends. Palesha also always wears long-sleeved clothes so that her friends can see her.
While studying at DAV School in Jawalakhel, his parents decided to teach Taekwondo for “self-defense”. He was accepted by Kathmandu Dojang. But Palesha refused to go at first. He was afraid of failure because he had not been stimulated much.
Our parents often remind us, go play, win or lose, you are always our winner.
Palesha also started to learn Taekwondo. She used to study Jaulakhel and learn Taekwondo in Satdobato.
Taekwondo became her identity. She was selected for the national team for the first time in 2016. She was only 13 years old when she participated in the World Para Taekwondo Championships.
Palesa made her international debut at the 3rd Asian Para Taekwondo Open in Chuncheon, South Korea in 2017, where she finished fifth. At the 2017 World Para Taekwondo Championships in London, she won a match and finished seventh. With experience in winning international competitions, she has achieved success after success since then.
In 2018, she won her first international medal, just one year after winning her first international competition. She won bronze at the Asian Para Taekwondo Open in Vietnam. In 2019, she traveled to Jordan and Tokyo but failed to win a medal.
But in 2021, she won the gold medal for the first time at the Asian Youth Para Games. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she did not get the chance to participate in the Paralympic trials. But fortunately, she became the only athlete to represent Nepal in the 2021 Paralympic Games as a wild card.
During the epidemic, they could not train normally. He had to lose 5 kg to compete in the 58 kg class. She lost weight by working hard. With 10 seconds left in the bronze medal match, China’s Li Yuji tied at 9-9. But then she couldn’t cope and lost 12-9.
Although she lost her first match to a British player, she defeated American Brianna Salinara in the quarterfinals of the repechage and Maria Misev of Serbia in the semifinals. She did not get the medal she wanted this time, but she became the first Nepalese athlete to win two events at the Olympics. This time she won the historic bronze medal.
Palesha has dreamed of becoming an engineer since she was a child. She is currently researching this topic in Shanghai, China.
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