Katara (Jammu & Kashmir): Dipa Karmakar is going to Rio because of her commitment as she wants the tricolor to fly high, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while praising the first Indian female gymnast who qualified for the quadrennial event.
"Just yesterday a daughter of India, Dipa Karmakar brought fame to the country at Rio Olympics and for the first time a daughter is going in Gymnastic," Prime Minister Modi said while speaking at the fifth convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University.
"She hails from Tripura, a small state with fewer resources. Is she going to Rio because of resources? No she is going because of commitment, she wants the tricolor to fly high and that is why she has reached there," he added.
Karmakar, a Commonwealth and Asian Games medalist, gathered a total score of 52.698 points in the final artistic gymnastics qualifying event in Rio.
India has been absent from Olympic gymnastics events since 1964 when six male athletes competed in the event. However, there was no qualification system in place at that time.
