The youngest athlete out of over 10,000 participants at the ongoing Rio Olympic games, Gaurika Singh, came 32nd out of 34 swimmers but made her country proud by beating at least two rivals. Her race lasted in 8.45 minutes as she attempted to qualify for 100 metres backstroke. She could not bring her coach Rhys Gormley to the Games. So how does she manages it all? Her coach texts her whenever she has any doubt.
Gaurika ripped her swimming suit just before the race and has to consult Gormley whether to change it or not. “Before my race I ripped my suit so I had to ask him whether or not I should change it. I was trying to pull it up and my nail went through the suit,” she said. After wearing a new costume, Gaurika defeated her two rivals to stand first in her heat. When a journalist asked her about the swimming pools in Nepal, she replied, “There are like three fifty metre pools there, I think. But I train in London. So I don’t really know.”
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Talking about her participation and nervousness, Gaurika told Reuters, “It was amazing just looking up on that board and seeing my time.”
Last year when a series of earthquakes hit the Himalayan country, Gaurika was trapped in her home and bound to hide under a table. ”I felt so grateful that I was able to survive that terrible earthquake. Just to be here and try and make my country proud is amazing,” she said.
Gaurika may have been not able to progress further in the event, but she will be getting a lot of opportunities in future as she is just 13 now and has a potential to play at least three or more Olympics.
Her father Paras is a urologist in a London hospital and when he came to England, Gaurika was just two years old.
“My friends are really happy for me but they are also good at stuff. One of my best friends plays Matilda in the West End and another one went to junior Wimbledon,” said Gaurika Singh to The Telegraph.