To achieve something, you have to take risk: Dipa Kamrakar

​New Delhi: Ecstatic and exhausted in equal measure after becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar on Thursday said she would look to continue scripting history wherever she competes.

"I will put every effort to ensure that I keep creating history. My target was to qualify at any cost and I am happy that I have achieved my target," Karmakar told reporters after returning to the country from Rio de Janeiro to a hero's welcome.

She booked her Rio ticket with a gold medal in an Olympic Test event.The 22-year-old garnered a total score of 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifying event to book a berth for artistic gymnastics in Rio Games to be held here in August.

Apart from being the first Indian woman, she also became the first from the country to qualify for the quadrennial extravaganza after 52 long years.

Since the independence of the country, 11 Indian male gymnasts have taken part in the Olympics (two in 1952, three in 1956 and six in 1964).

"It was very difficult but I have got a great mentor because of whom, I am here. Without him nobody would have known my name," she said.

"To achieve something, you have to take risk. I am thankful that special arrangements were made at the IG Stadium where I practiced and learnt Produnova vault. Otherwise it would have been impossible, so I am thankful to the Sports Authority of India," she said.