Nepal's Record Setting Paralympics Medalist Palesha Goverdhan Receives Heroic Welcome Back Home

Nepali Paralympian medalist Palesha Goverdhan, 21, poses for a photo with her Paris Paralympics 2024 bronze medal as she arrives at the National Sports Council in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 4, 2024. On August 31, Goverdhan creates history by defeating 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. Nepal has never won an official medal at the Summer Games in its 60-year 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 is officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Nepal makes its first Paralympics debut at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, sending Nirmala Gyawali in the women's shot-put event. Jit Bahadur Khadka is the second athlete to participate at the Paralympic Games. He competes in the men's 100m at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Para taekwondo athlete Goverdhan in the Tokyo Olympics is near to winning a bronze medal but fails. Three years later, she conquers her dream for a historic bronze for the Himalayan nation. (Photo by Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto via Getty Images)