New Delhi, Aug 15 : Although Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar missed out on an Olympic medal by a whisker, her stellar performance at the world's biggest stage has left much of the sporting fraternity awestruck.
The 23-year-old, hailing from Tripura, missed out on an Olympic medal by 0.150 points despite successfully executing the dangerous Produnova vault (15.266) in her second attempt to secure a remarkable 15.066 points overall.
American gymnast Simone Biles clinched her third gold medal of the prestigious quadrennial event at the Rio Olympic Arena with a vault of 15.966 ahead of Russia's Maria Paseka (15.253) and Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland (15.216).
Abhinav Bindra, who won the gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, led the bandwagon in praising the 'pride of India'.
"Dipa Karmakar you are my hero !," wrote Bindra on Twitter. "Finishing 4th in gymnastics... Comparable to Milkha Singh and PT Usha! So proud of you Dipa Karmakar!! Highlight for India in Rio 2016!," tweeted tennis player Somdev Devvarman.
Indian cricket Test captain Virat Kohli was equally effusive in his praise for Dipa. "Behind that million watt smile must be the pressure of making a billion smile. Don't stress #DipaKarmakar ,you've already made us proud," the Indian star batsman tweeted. "Thank u #DipaKarmakar fr getting us united at midnight cheering fr Gymnastics,in a country with no infrastructure for this sport.
Super Proud," said former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag. Dipa's fourth-place finish in the individual vault final at the Rio Olympics is India's best performance at an international event till date.
Dipa, who vaulted into limelight with her death defying leap, had earlier created history when she became the first Indian gymnast to enter the final on her debut at the quadrennial multi-discipline games after finishing eighth in the qualifying round.
Source: ANI
