Bharat second taekwondo athlete to be selected for Paris Paralympics

KATHMANDU: Para taekwondo athlete Bharat Singh Mahata has been selected to participate in the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games.

According to the Nepal Taekwondo Association, Bharat has been selected for the Paralympics through a wildcard. The World Taekwondo Federation confirmed Bharat’s participation in the Paralympics in a letter sent to the Nepal Taekwondo Association on Tuesday.

Bharat will compete in the men’s K44 58kg category in the Paralympics. Coach Kabiraj Negi Lama said there will be 12 athletes in this category. Bharat is the last athlete to qualify. Based on rankings, six athletes had already qualified, while the remaining five, including Bharat, secured their spots through the qualification rounds.

The 27-year-old from Darchula’s Apihimal Rural Municipality-8 has been training with the national team for the past 18 months, according to the association.

With this, the number of Nepali taekwondo athletes participating in the Paris Paralympics has reached two. Earlier, Palesha Govardhan booked her ticket to Paris by winning gold in the women’s K44 57kg category at the Asian qualifiers in Taiyuan, China.

The K44 class includes athletes with unilateral arm amputation (or equivalent loss of function), or loss of toes which impact the ability to lift the heel properly.
Impaired muscle power, athetosis, hypertonia, limb deficiency and ataxia are the eligible impairment types in this class, according to the International Paralympic Committee.