Dipa Karmakar's historic fourth place finish in Vault final atthe Rio Olympics on Sunday drew applause from the entire nation.
The Tripura girl performed with exceptional grit but missed out on a medal by a narrow margin.
The 22-year old, who had earlier become the first Indian gymnast to qualify for finals, was lauded by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, former cricketer Virender Sehwag and shooter Abhinav Bindra.
"Dipa Karmakar .. the pride of India .. your story is what compels us to do better ... and we will !! Many congratulations !!," tweeted Bachchan.
Sehwag’s tweet beautifully summed up Dipa's performance at Rio Olympics.
"Thank u Dipa Karmakar for getting us united at midnight cheering for Gymnastics, in a country with no infrastructure for this sport. Super Proud!" Sehwag posted.
Senior journalist Shekhar Gupta compared Dipa's performance with that of athletics legends Milkha Singh and PT Usha, who had also finished fourth at the Olympics.
"Milkha (Rome Olympics)/Usha (Los Angeles Olympics) were 4th in track. Dipa Karmakar has done this in gymnastics & is a bigger star," he tweeted.
On a day (Sunday), where most of India's medal hopes ended (Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna, hockey and shooting), Dipa performance won hearts and raised hopes for the future.
"Dipa Karmakar you are my hero," tweeted shooter Abhinav Bindra, who himself missed out on a medal in Rio by a whisker.
© 2024 Rediff.com -