‘Happy with performance, but focusing on upcoming events’, says gymnast Pranati Nayak after WC bronze

Bhubaneswar: Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak on Sunday said she was happy to win a bronze medal in Vault at the FIG Apparatus World Cup 2024 in Cairo, Egypt but added that in the Olympic year, her focus is on the two events upcoming in the qualifying period that could help her bag a berth in Paris 2024.

Tokyo Olympian Pranati became only the third Indian woman to win a medal at the FIG World Cup when she bagged the bronze medal with a score of 13.620 on Saturday.

The 28-year-old, who trains at the Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics High Performance Centre, qualified for the Vault final after finishing 7th with a score of 13.166 on Friday.

Earlier in January, she bagged two medals — gold in Vault and bronze in Balance Beam — at the Senior Artistic Gymnastics National Championship 2024 held at the Gymnastics Centre in Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar.

The Olympian will compete in the upcoming legs of the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan (March 7 to 10), and Doha, Qatar (April 17 to 20). The points accumulated from the World Cup series will contribute to the qualification process for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

If she manages to qualify for Paris 2024, she will become the first Indian gymnast to qualify for back-to-back Olympic Games.

Speaking after winning the bronze medal in Cairo, Pranati said: “I would like to thank everyone for their support. I’m happy with the performance, but I’ve got two more events, so just focusing on that.”

Ashok Mishra, chief coach, Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics High Performance Centre said, “I’m really happy with Pranati’s performance. The hard work done at the Gymnastics High Performance Centre in Odisha is paying off and we are on the right path. We still have two more events and the focus will be improving the performance.”

Congratulating Pranati for her achievement, Vineel Krishna, Secretary, Sports and Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha said: “Many congratulations to Pranati for winning the bronze medal in the Vault at the FIG Apparatus World Cup Cairo 2024. We are proud to see an athlete from our Gymnastics High-Performance Centre doing well on the world stage. Our best wishes to Pranati for the upcoming crucial legs of the World Cup, and we are confident that she will make the country proud.”

–IANS