On July 25, 2003, in Bagbazar, Kathmandu, Nepal, a girl was born who would go down in the history books of her country. With the greatest sporting achievement that a Nepalese athlete has ever achieved, Palesha Goverdhan won a bronze medal in Para Taekwondo at the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024, beating Marija Micev of Serbia by 15-8 in the women’s K44 -57kg event.
After dedicating her medal to the entire country, the athlete expressed her pride in making her dream a reality. Goverdhan became the first Nepalese to win a medal at the Olympic or Paralympic level. The country, despite having participated in the Olympic Games for 60 years, had won a pair of medals in 1924 and 1988, which but these were not recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Nepal then made their Paralympic debut at Athens 2004 and have not won a medal since.
The 21-year-old athlete competed in Tokyo 2020 where she was very close to bronze. Now, Paris became the perfect setting to make her delegation’s first medal shine, a historic event that will be remembered for a lifetime.
In Hangzhou, Goverdhan was also the first athlete in Nepal’s history to win a medal at the Asian Para Games when she won bronze.
“Everyone believed in my ability and expected a medal from me. I am very grateful to everyone who trusted me. I am happy to finally be able to give this Paralympic medal as a gift in return,” said the athlete to the local media Kathmandu Post, who also thanked her family, followers and the Nepal Taekwondo Association.
She also won gold at the Second International Gyarogi Taekwondo and Poomsae Competition in Kathmandu 2018, at the Asian Youth Paralympic Games in Bahrain 2021, and was a bronze medallist at the Fourth Asian Paralympic Taekwondo Competition at Vietnam 2018.
But she is not only a high-performance athlete, Goverdhan also has a degree in Architectural Engineering from Shanghai Tongji University, where she has received numerous awards recognizing her outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements. Her well-rounded character and her tireless pursuit of excellence make her a woman worthy of being admired by an entire country. The athlete also actively collaborates with various associations, such as the Nepal Taekwondo Association and the Sports Association, so her bronze medal is only one more recognition of the unwavering determination she has had throughout her life, being a real inspiration for the entire world.
