Legendary Oksana Chusovitina inspires Indian gymnasts ahead of Asian Games

NEW DELHI: The presence of Beijing Olympic silver medallist Oksana Chusovitina is acting as an extra motivation for the Indian gymnasts, who are preparing for the upcoming Asian Games at the cities of Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.
The fitness and hunger for medal in the veteran gymnast from Uzbekistan is an inspiration for the young Indians. The 43-year-old has participated in seven consecutive Olympic Games in her long and storied career.She had won three world championships gold medals, two for Soviet Union in 1991 and one for Uzbekistan in 2003. She also has won seven Asian Games medals - two gold, three silver and two bronze.
Indian gymnast Pranati Nayak is practicing with the Uzbek, and her coach Minera Begam acknowledged the positive effect of the legend's presence. "Oksana has been practicing in this centre every morning. It is good to see how she has kept herself so motivated in 43 years," Begam said.
Pranati, who missed a medal at the last Asiad and finished fourth, is desperate to grab one this time round. But she has to compete against gymnasts from Korea and Japan in Indonesia. Coach Begam accepts that the competition will be tough and said that, 'it won't be an easy task'.
India's star gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who recently won a gold at the World Challenge Cup in Turkey, is confident of winning a medal in Indonesia. Dipa's coach Bisweshwar Nandi accepts that the recent leg injury affected the Tripura gymnast, but added: "Asiad is like mini Olympic. To reach the final in Asiad is a big deal."
The Indian Olympic Committee is yet to announce coach's name for the Asiad in the gymnastic discipline. On the issue, the Dronacharya awardee Nandi said, "SAI has nothing to do with this. Only the committee can take call."
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