Gymnast Pranati Nayak bags Asian quota for Tokyo Olympics

Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak has claimed the Asian quota for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. She qualified after the ninth Asian championships, which was scheduled to be held from May 29 to June 1 in Hangzhou, China was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 26-year-old Pranati Nayak, who won a bronze in vault at the 2019 Asian Artistic Gymnastic championships, was the reserve behind Sri Lanka's Elpitiya Badalge Dona Milka Geh for the Asian quota.

As things stand, Pranati Nayak is the only Indian gymnast who’ll be travelling to Tokyo.

The gymnast from West Bengal follows in the footsteps of Dipa Karmakar, who was the first Indian women’s gymnast to compete in the Olympics at Rio 2016. Karmakar hasn’t qualified for Tokyo yet and her chances look slim at best.

“I was very disappointed when I couldn't achieve the qualifying score during the 2019 World Championship and with the pandemic cancelling all events, I never imagined that I will be able to realise this dream of going to the Olympics," Pranati Nayak told PTI.

Pranati Nayak is now waiting for an official communication from the Asian or world body.

Speaking on the long COVID-enforced layoff, Pranati said, “I have kept myself fit and kept training during this pandemic even though no events were happening. I want to train hard in the next few months and put up a good show at the Olympics.”

Pranati Nayak trained under former SAI coach Minara Begum for a long time but after Begum’s retirement in 2019, she was coached by Lakhan Manohar Sharma.