Bronze medal winner Palesha to receive Rs 6.5 million for Paris Paralympics victory

Kathmandu / Aug 31: Taekwondo player Palesha Goverdhan, who won a historic bronze medal for Nepal at the Paris Paralympics, will receive an award of Rs 6.5 million from the Nepal government.

The government has announced that Palesha will be awarded Rs 6.5 million for her victory as per the prize determined for winning in the Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics, Paralympics, Special Olympics or World Cup football.

The regulations provide that individuals winning a gold medal will receive Rs 13 million, those winning a silver medal will receive Rs 9.7 million and those winning a bronze medal will receive Rs 6.5 million. Accordingly, Palesha will receive Rs 6.5 million in cash prize from the Nepal government.

She will become the first Nepali player to be awarded in this way. Palesha’s coach, Kabiraj Negi Lama, will receive a prize of Rs 585,000. Similarly, the Nepal Taekwondo Association will receive Rs 1.19 million.

Palesha won the historic bronze medal for Nepal by defeating the Serbian player in the women’s under Taekwondo 57 kg event under the K-44 category match held last night. She defeated Serbia’s Marija Michev by 15-8 points to bring a coveted bronze medal for her and the country.

She has become the first Nepali athlete to win a medal in the Paralympics. In the first round match held yesterday, she defeated Valeria Morales of Venezuela by 31-0 and made it to the quarterfinals. However, she lost to Brazil’s Silvana Fernandezong 10-8 in the quarterfinals.

As she was defeated in the second round, she got another chance or repechage, in which she defeated host France’s Sefi Carvajnelle by 2-1.

Nepal has started participating in the Paralympics since the 2004 Athens Paralympics. Palesha started playing taekwondo at the age of 10 and joined the Para national team in 2016. Since then she has participated and won medals in various international competitions.