Nepal's first medal in Olympic history

It was a far-fetched thing for Nepalese athletes to win medals in the Olympic structure. On top of that, as a para player, it is more difficult than ever. However, breaking all those limits, Palesha has won a medal for the country in her second Olympic participation. It was midnight here on Friday when he won the medal at the Grand Palais in Paris. So the joy of his medal made the Saturday morning of the common Nepalese excited.

She won a medal in the women's 57 kg weight group under the K-44 category of Para Taekwondo. Palesha won the bronze with a 15-8 score against Serbia's Marija Michev. Another bronze was won by Brazil's Cardoso Fernandez. If she had not lost to this Brazilian in the quarterfinals, Palesha would have reached the top medal. However, in a hard-fought match, she was defeated by a score of 10-8. Then Palesha reached the bronze in the repechage. This time, only the losers of the quarterfinals were given the opportunity to repechage.

Palesha had the pain of not winning the Tokyo Para Olympics. Palesha, who reached Tokyo with the help of a wild card after not being able to play the qualifying tournament due to the Corona epidemic, had already tasted the bronze medal match by winning two matches. However, he was without a medal when he lost to the Chinese Li Yuzhi. This year, Yuzhi, who reached the final from another pole, won the gold. She won gold by defeating Turkey's Gumez Gurdal 11-0.

Palesha, who has made history by winning two games in Tokyo, this time strengthened herself and entered the Olympic stage. Palesha, who trained in Britain for about a month, won a historic bronze in the Asian Games and gold in the Asian Olympic qualifying round.

Palesha got off to a good start with a one-sided 31-0 win over Venezuela's Morales Valeria in the Round of 16 match. After losing to the top-ranked Brazilian player Fernandez in the quarterfinals, in the repechage

pushed. In the first match of the repechage, the Serbian Marija came to Palesha's opponent in the medal match after defeating the fourth-ranked Sophie Carvajn of France with a score of 2-1. Marija was the same player, whom Palesha also defeated in Tokyo.

Marija was in the mood to take revenge against Palesha. Marija was leading 5-4 with two minutes left in the 5-minute contest. However, with one minute left, Palesha tied the game at 7-7. After that, Palesha, who looked aggressive, kicked continuously and scored points to make the result in her favor.

Palesha said about the match with Marija, "She was dominant in the match, the score was 7-7." It was a situation that could happen. But, remembering that he had already lost in Tokyo, it gave me more energy and started playing my game aggressively. Then I took points continuously.' After the

win, Palesha said that the medal she won was not only for her, but for Nepal and all Nepalis. Stating that she won the medal according to her hard work, she said, "The medal I won is not only for me, it belongs to Nepal and all Nepalis." We can now proudly say that we have an Olympic medal.'' Para Taekwondo coach Kaviraj Negi Lama, who has been training Palesha for a long time, said that he has made all Nepalis and Nepali sports happy by completing the medals expected from Palesha.

Lama, who has won more than 11 international medals in mercury sports, said, "We missed a medal in Tokyo, today we won a medal in Paris thanks to Palesha's continuous efforts and our efforts. We want to share the happiness of this medal with all Nepalis."

Palesha said that all the Nepali heads are upright and the chest is wide, Lama added, "Can a Nepali athlete also win a medal in the Olympics?" Palesha has given the answer to the question. If we invest and work hard, we will be able to win medals anywhere.'

After the win, Palesha first thanked her parents, who have always encouraged her to play since childhood. Palesha Miley is one of the three daughters of Kathmandu Bagbazar resident Pradeep and Manita Govardhan. She just turned 21 in July. Palesha expressed her belief that if she prepares better, she will be able to achieve greater achievements, thanking the Sports Council, Para Olympic Committee, Taekwondo Association, well-wishers, along with coach Lama, manager Ramchandra Shrestha.

Palesha reached Paris after winning the Asian Olympic qualifying round held in Taiyan, China in March. In the final, she defeated Iran's Leila Mirzai 5-4 to win the gold. He is the third taekwondo player to play in the Olympics after passing the Asian qualifying stage. After Sangina Vaidya won the 2004 Greece Olympics and Deepak Bisht won the 2010 Beijing Olympics, she was the only wrestler to win the Asian qualification.

Three athletes from Nepal are participating in the Paris Para Olympics. Taekwondo's Bharat Singh Mahata was out. He was defeated by Japan's Mitsuya Tanaka 19-3 in the first match. Now swimming Bhim Bahadur Kumal has yet to play. He will compete in S9 category 50m freestyle on September 2.

Palesha's game journey

Palesha, who was born without the lower part of her left wrist, started playing taekwondo at the age of 10. Playful and fearless since childhood, Palesha was involved in extracurricular activities while studying at DAV School. When the Nepal Taekwondo Association formed a sub-committee and started identifying players. The then coach Kalyan Kunwar, who was trying to identify the player, came to know that there is a player in DAV, she plays well, her height is good. Then Palesha's real Taekwondo journey took place. He took his initial training from that well.

Then Palesha joined the national Para Taekwondo team from 2016. Palesha's international competition debut was the 3rd Asian Para Taekwondo Championship held in Chuncheon, South Korea in 2017. She was ranked fifth.

Palesha, who won gold in the 2nd Kathmandu Gyorogi and Pumsey International Taekwondo held in Kathmandu in 2018, started her international medal winning journey by winning bronze in the 4th Asian Para Taekwondo Championship held in Vietnam in 2018. She then won the gold medal at the 2021 Asian Youth Para Games in Bahrain. She finished fifth in the World Para Taekwondo 2017 in London, fifth in the Asian Para Open Taekwondo 2019 in Jordan and fifth in the test event of the Para Olympic Games 2019 in Tokyo.

Palesha, who was ninth in the 8th World Para Taekwondo in Turkey in 2019, also participated in the World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia. She also played in the 9th Asian Para Taekwondo Championship in Vietnam. Palesha, who always follows the belief that one should always be positive, said that she believes that such a success will boost the morale of many para athletes like her. She said, 'I learned taekwondo when I was 10 years old and I got this success at the age of 21. Success is achieved through hard work and patience. If the government invests, it is believed that even greater success can be achieved. 1960 The Paralympics started in Rome (Italy). When only wheelchair players used to compete. 400 athletes from 23 countries have competed in Rome.

While Nepal started participating in the Summer Olympics only from Tokyo Olympics held four years later in 1964. In the 1988 Seoul edition of the same Summer Olympics, Nepal won the bronze medal. However, that medal was in a taekwondo exhibition match. So it is not in the official count. The bronze medal was won by Vidhan Lama. About 92 athletes have competed in the Olympics by the time they reach Paris.

Nepal started participating in Para Olympics from 2004 Athens (Greece). Since that edition, it has been promoted as an international multisports event. Nirmala Gyawali competed in shot put in Athens. Jit Bahadur Khadka of athletics in Beijing 2008, athletics Bikram Bahadur Rana and Maiyan Vishunkhe in London 2012, Rio 2016 runner Bikram Bahadur Rana and swimming Lakshmi Kunwar and Palesha have participated in Tokyo 2020.

Palesha to get 65 lakhs

According to the prize provisions in the National Sports Development Regulations-2079, Palesha, the bronze winner, will get a cash prize of 65 lakh rupees. 10.3 million for the gold winner and 9.7 million for the silver. The award is held under the Olympic (Summer/Winter, Para/Special) and World Cup football titles.

According to the award of the same regulation, Palesha, who won bronze in the 4th Asian Para Games held in Hangzhou, China, has received a prize of 1.3 million rupees. Coach Kaviraj will receive 585,000 rupees, manager Ramchandra Shrestha will receive 292,000 rupees and Taekwondo Association will receive 11,700,000 rupees for winning bronze.