Palesha Goverdhan will return home from the Paris Paralympics with a bronze medal—the highest sports honour a Nepali athlete has ever achieved.

On Saturday, Goverdhan created history when she defeated Marija Micev of Serbia 15-8 in the bronze medal match of the women’s K44 under 57 kg weight category taekwondo competition, becoming the first athlete from Nepal to win a Paralympic medal.

“I feel really happy and proud. The dream that I saw when I was 10 years old finally came true,” she said after the historic victory.

“This medal is not just for me but for the entire country.

“It was a really tough match… and I was very nervous. When the bout against Micev was going even at 7-7, 8-8, I thought about the Tokyo Paralympics. I did not want to repeat the last Olympics’ miss so I gathered myself together and started scoring kick-after-kick in the final 10 seconds. Finally I did it…. I won the historic medal for Nepal.”

Goverdhan also became the first Nepali athlete to win a medal at an Olympic level.

Nepal has never won an official medal at the Summer Games in its 60-year long Olympic history—not considering Bidhan Lama’s bronze in the exhibition taekwondo event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and the gold presented to Tejbir Bura at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France for his alpinism effort as part of the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition. Neither medal was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee.

Nepal made its Paralympics Games debut at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, sending Nirmala Gyawali in the women’s shot-put event. Jit Bahadur Khadka was the second athlete to participate at the Paralympic Games. He competed in the men's 100m at 2008 Summer Paralympics.

“It feels surreal because back home no one imagines Nepal winning a medal on the world stage. But I have done it… my team has done it. Hopefully, this historic moment will help change the situation for all the para-athletes in Nepal,” added Goverdhan.

“There are many talented para-athletes in Nepal. If they get more resources and exposure, many medals will come in the future,” she said.

The 21-year-old para taekwondo athlete Goverdhan, who appeared in her second successive Paralympics, finally got the reward after coming ever so close to a historic bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.

Goverdhan, who entered Tokyo Paralympic Games on a wildcard, won two repechage events to enter the bronze medal final but lost to China’s Li Yujie in the women’s 58kg K44 in the bronze medal final in Tokyo, finishing fifth.

"It was my first Paralympics,” recalled Goverdhan. “I was just 18 at that time. I was still a novice. I felt really bad when I missed out on bronze. When you lose, you just don’t want to see yourself crying. But I knew. It happened once, and it will never happen again.”

Goverdhan has only gotten better over time.

Two years later, at the Asian Para Games 2022 in Hangzhou, China, Goverdhan etched her name in history books by becoming the first Nepali athlete to win a medal at the Asian Para Games. Goverdhan defeated China’s Yang Li Ting 14-1 to enter the semi-finals that assured her at least a bronze medal.

Following Nepal’s another poor showing at the Paris Summer Games which took place from July 26 to August 11, hopes of an Olympic medal for the country solely rested on Goverdhan. She became the first Nepali paralympian to qualify for the Paralympic Games following her victory over Iran’s Leila Mirzae in the final of the Asian Qualification Tournament in Taiyang, China.

Goverdhan did not disappoint.

In Paris, she defeated Valeria Morales of Venezuela 31-0 in the round of 16 to progress to the quarter-finals. She lost to Tokyo Paralympics bronze medallist Silvana Fernandes of Brazil 8-10 in the last eight but clawed her way back to defeat Sophie Caverzan of France 2-1 in the repechage contest to set up the bronze medal final against Micev.

“Everyone believed in my capacity and expected a medal from me. I am really grateful for all those who had faith in me. I am happy that I am finally able to give this Paralympic medal as a gift in return,” said Goverdhan.

“I want to thank my parents, my coach, Nepal Taekwondo Association, Paralympic Committee, National Sports Council and all my supporters.”

Following the victory, her coaches raced onto the mat and draped a Nepal flag around Goverdhan in celebration of the historic moment.

Goverdhan and Nepal’s taekwondo team had trained in Manchester, England for a month before heading to Paris.

“This is a victory for all Nepali people and the country. We have finally won a medal in the Paralympic Games after getting so close in Tokyo. I am really proud of Palesha… and thanks to her parents and associations who supported her struggle,” said her coach Kabi Raj Negi Lama who has now won his 11th international medal as coach.

“This success was possible because of the effort of Palesha and the entire team. Palesha has given a message that Nepal is also capable of winning medals at the Olympics,” added Lama.

Goverdhan’s bronze medal final victory over the Serbian was her fifth overall match victory in the Paralympic Games—a feat no Nepali athlete has achieved either at the Summer Games or the Summer Paralympics.

The bronze, you could say, was inevitable given her steady progress in international competitions.

Born without a left palm, the 21-year-old Goverdhan started practising taekwondo at the age of 10. She became part of the national para taekwondo team in 2016 and made her international debut during the Asian Open Para Taekwondo Championship in Chuncheon, South Korea, where she finished fifth.

Goverdhan also won gold in the Second Kathmandu Gyarogi and Poomsae International Taekwondo Competition 2018, and Asian Youth Para Games 2021 in Bahrain. She is also a bronze medallist of the Fourth Asian Para Taekwondo held in 2018 Vietnam.

Goverdhan will get Rs6.5 million cash prize for his historic bronze, as provisioned in the National Sports Development Regulation 2022.

She was rewarded with Rs 1.3 million for winning bronze at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.

Her coach will receive Rs 5,085,000, manager will bag Rs 2,092,000 and the concerned sports association will get Rs 1.17 million.

National Sports Council Member Secretary Tanka Lal Ghising congratulated Goverdhan “for giving Nepali sports and the nation a valuable gift”.

Meanwhile, Nepal’s Bharat Singh Mahata crashed out of the Paris Paralympics on Thursday after he lost his men’s K44 under 58 kg round of 16 match of the taekwondo competition against Mitsuya Tanaka of Japan 3-19.

Para swimmer Bhim Bahadur Kumal will compete in the men’s 50m freestyle Heat on Monday.