She defeated 10 participants in public voting and was declared as the winner. National Geographic annually selects such winners from under extraordinary achievements in exploration, adventure sports, conservation or humanitarian service category.

She was declared as the winner on the basis of votes cast for her on the website of National Geographic.

It may be noted that former Maoist combatant Rai had secured second position in the Skyrunning World Championship Award in 2015 as well. RSS