Historical Medal Awarded By Hela Khepke Palesha Taekwondo player Palesha Govardhan won a historic bronze medal at the Paralympics on Friday. She won the medal by defeating Serbia’s Maria Missev 15-8 under women’s under 57 kg under the K44 category.
Even though Nepal started participating in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, it was without a medal. The presence of Nepalese athletes in the Olympics was limited to participation. But Palesha ended her 6-decade-long journey without a medal in the Olympics and became the first athlete from Nepal to win a medal in the Olympics.
However, gold was expected from Palesha in the Paralympics. But in the quarter-finals, the chance of gold was over when she could not save the lead of 8-6 against the Brazilian player Silvana Mayara Fernandez. After Fernandez scored four consecutive points with a body kick, Palesha was defeated 10-8.
Palesha defeated Venezuela’s Morales 31-0 in the first match and qualified for the quarterfinals. Bronze medal la
She did not want to lose by getting close to that historic medal again. Palesha trailed 8-7 with 49 seconds left in the game. She took an 11-8 lead with 22 seconds left in the game and created history by winning 15-8.
After the victory, he and coach Kaviraj Negi Lama circled the ring under the flag of Nepal. The audience applauded. I feel very happy and proud. The dream I had at the age of 10 has come true today at the age of 21. After the historic victory, she said, “I want to thank all the teachers.”
Apart from Para, 92 athletes have participated in the Olympics in 6 decades. Taekwondo’s Sangina Vaidya 2004, Deepak Bishta 2008, and Table Tennis’ Santu Shrestha are the only ones who have passed the selection process and participated in the Olympics. All other athletes have been playing in the Olympics through quota.
She created history by winning a bronze medal in the women’s K-44 category in the under 57 kg weight group at the Asian Para Games held in Guangzhou, China last year. This was the first medal won by Nepal in the Asian Para Games. She also maintained that record in the Olympics.
She established that Nepalese athletes can win medals in the Olympics. The Nepalese government used to say only good games and good performance. But no one would have believed that he would bring a medal”, he said, I did. Other players are also very capable. If they also get many opportunities, there will be more than a thousand medals in Nepal.
Who is Palesha?
Palesha was born on July 25, 2003. Mother Manita and father Pradeep could not express their joy at the birth of their daughter and were surprised. Because his left wrist below the wrist was not developed at birth.
Due to his condition, his father and mother, who lived in Baghbazar in Kathmandu, had to listen to many things in the society. I heard more bad things than good. Palesha was also teased by his friends. Palesha also always wore clothes with full sleeves so that her friends would see her.
Parents used to remind us that go play, whether you win or lose, you are always a winner for us.
Palesha also started to understand Taekwondo. She used to study Jaulakhel and learn taekwondo at Satdobato.
That Taekwondo became his identity. In 2016, she made it to the national team for the first time. She was only 13 years old when she participated in the World Para-Taekwondo Championships.
But in 2021, she won gold for the first time in the Asian Youth Para Games. Due to the Corona pandemic, he did not get the opportunity to play for the Paralympics. But with luck, she became the only athlete to represent Nepal in the Paralympics 2021 from the wild card.
During the coronavirus period, they could not train properly. He had to reduce his weight by 5 kg to participate in the 58 kg competition. She lost weight with hard work. In the bronze medal match, China’s Li Yuji was tied 9-9 with 10 seconds remaining. But then she was defeated by 12-9 because she could not handle it.
This time she did not get the medal she wanted, but she became the first Nepali athlete to win two games in the Olympics. This time she won a historic bronze medal. Palesha had a dream of becoming an engineer since childhood. She is studying this subject in Shanghai, China.
