'In boxing, wrestling you get a bronze even when you finish fourth, but not for me. It was very close to medal.'
Trailblazing Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar says she's not disappointed at missing out on a historic bronze medal in the Vault final at the Rio Olympics.
"I never expected a medal from this Olympics, but to have come fourth is very creditable. In boxing, wrestling you get a bronze even when you finish fourth, but not for me. It was very close to a medal. After four years my target will be gold," Dipa said, brimming with confidence.
"For me this is my first Olympics. But I don't need to be disappointed; I will give my best in Tokyo 2020.
"I'm fully satisfied with my performance. This is my highest score. But the medalists were better than me. Maybe, it was not my day," a graceful Dipa added.
She said with some luck she could have got a medal.
"It's my bad luck that I missed the bronze medal by a few points. But no problem; I never expected this fourth place finish in my first Olympics.
"I never expected a medal, honestly. My first target was to better my scores in the two vaults, and I succeeded in doing that. Whatever I had learnt, I managed to perform. There's been no better score than this in the two vaults that I performed," said the girl from Agartala.
The 23-year-old, who is the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, scored an average of 15.066 points, a mere 0.15 less than the eventual bronze winner, Giulia Steingruber (15.216) of Switzerland.
The gold went to American pre-event favourite Simone Biles (15.966), while reigning vault World champion Maria Paseka of Russia got the silver with an average of 15.253 points.
Dipa could have been in the reckoning for a medal had she not landed on her haunches in her risky 'Produnova' vault, for which she is now known all over the world.
She landed on her feet but then sat down and lost points in the process.
She scored 15.266 from her 'Produnova' with 8.266 points for execution for a difficulty level of 7. The average of the two attempts gave her 15.066, a mere 0.15 difference between bronze winner Steingruber.
"This is my highest score in Prudonova; I had 15.1 earlier. I am very happy with my vault. I gave my whole effort to bring an Olympic medal for my countrymen. But it was a bit luck."
