Paris 2024: Best Para taekwondo moments
Zakia Khudadadi wins first-ever medal for Refugee Paralympic Team Palesha Goverdhan makes history by winning Nepal’s first Paralympic medal Djelika Diallo earns silver in front of a home crowd 10 Oct 2024
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were packed with memorable moments, including athletic firsts, that took place at stunning venues in front of a vocal crowd.
We will share three moments from each sport that made the Games special.
Top moment
Zakia Khudadadi made history in Paris by winning the first-ever medal for the Refugee Paralympic Team. She earned bronze in the women’s K44 –47kg category on 29 August, the first day of competition at the Paralympics.
“I’m so, so happy. For me, this medal is a dream. Today, I am in a dream,” said Khudadadi, who was making her second Paralympic appearance. “This (medal) is for me, like life.”
The French public was behind her every match at the Grand Palais, chanting her name and holding posters.
“I worked hard these three years, and there were problems that I had. But that is in the past,” said Khudadadi, who lives and trains in France. “Now is important. Now, I am a bronze medallist.”
In Para athletics, Guillaume Junior Atangana took bronze in the men’s T11 400m with guide Donard Ndim Nyamjua for the Refugee Paralympic Team’s second medal in Paris. Eight refugee athletes competed in the French capital.
Biggest surprise
Palesha Goverdhan became the first athlete from Nepal to win a Paralympic medal. She defeated Serbia’s Marija Micev 15-8 in the bronze medal match of the women’s K44 –57kg division and celebrated on the mat with her coaches.
Palesha Goverdhan made history at the Paris 2024 #Paralympics as she became the FIRST ever medal winner for Nepal, at both the Paralympic and Olympic Games. Palesha won a historic bronze in #ParaTaekwondo.🇳🇵🥉
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) September 16, 2024
Her homecoming last week was greeted by huge crowds in Kathmandu. pic.twitter.com/4iN4K4uwya
The 21-year-old athlete returned to a hero’s welcome, three years after finishing fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Nepal made its Paralympic debut at Athens 2004, and Goverdhan was one of three athletes who competed in Paris.
Home hero
In front of a packed crowd at the Grand Palais, teenage sensation Djelika Diallo claimed the silver medal in the women’s K44 –65kg category. She beat defending Paralympic champion Lisa Kjaer in the quarterfinals and China’s Yinan Yao in the semifinals before facing Brazil’s Ana Carolina Silva de Moura in the gold medal match.
Silva de Moura pulled off a 13-7 win in the final, while Diallo claimed France’s first-ever Para taekwondo medal.
“I’m so happy because it’s my first Paralympic Games. I’m 19 years old, and I won the silver. It’s a proud moment for me,” she said.
“It’s incredible, it was amazing. Normally, we don’t have this many people that come and watch Paralympic sports. We are not used to having such a big crowd. To win this medal in front of all these fans has been great.”
“The medal means a lot. I only started taekwondo five years ago. Before that, I wasn’t doing any sport at all. Being here in front of the French crowd, with the silver medal, it can’t get any better.”
