Nepal Just Made the World Book of Records, at 4,919 Meters Above Sea Level

This is the kind of story that makes you genuinely proud to be Nepali. The Nepal Female Wrestling Foundation has officially had its Tilicho Lake wrestling match included in the World Book of Records, London, and the details of how it got there are as extraordinary as the achievement itself.

The World Book of Records confirmed that wrestling bouts held at Tilicho Lake, the world’s highest altitude lake located in theAnnapurnarange of the Himalayas, have been officially recorded. The event was organised by the Nepal Women’s Wrestling Foundation and featured Nepali wrestlers Bhagwati Khadka, known as Unika, and Asmita Sunar, known as Jureli, competing against American wrestler Camille Collette Ligon. The two Nepali wrestlers won the match, defeating their Americanopponentat an altitude of 4,919 meters above sea level.

The match took place on November 26, 2025, but the World Book of Records recognition has only just come through, making it one of the most remarkable sports stories to come out of Nepal this year. And the backstory behind Bhagwati Khadka makes the achievement even more meaningful.

Bhagwati Khadka is Nepal’s first international femalewrestler, born and raised in Ramechhap before moving to Kathmandu. She began wrestling in 2012 and made history that same year by becoming the first Nepali woman to defeat an international opponent, beating an American wrestler in Arghakhanchi. She then went on to establish the Nepal Women’s Wrestling Foundation, training over a hundred female students and creating a platform for women in a sport that had been almost exclusively male in Nepal.

This was not the first time she had taken wrestling to extreme altitudes in pursuit of a world record. Khadka had previously organised a match at Kala Patthar at 5,633 meters, combining extreme sports with national tourism promotion in a way that no other athlete in Nepal has attempted before.

The Tilicho Lake record is the culmination of years of quiet, determinedworkby women who refused to be told that wrestling was not for them. Bhagwati Khadka and Asmita Sunar did not just win a wrestling match. They climbed to nearly 5,000 meters above sea level, in one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth, and made history.