PARIS: India's youngest athlete in the Olympic contingent here, Dhinidhi Desinghu is thoroughly enjoying her days at the Games Village and has emerged as the darling of the nation's top stars who have assembled here. Despite her early exit, the 14-year-old is hopeful of moving forward having experienced the world's biggest stage.
Dhinidhi, who holds the national record in women's 200m free, said she benefitted despite getting overawed. "The pool was very big and it was a bit daunting with all the visitors. It was in a rugby stadium and the venue was huge with all the visitors pouring in and lot of famous athletes walking around whom I look upto on television. It was an amazing experience to watch the world beaters from close. I loved the vibe of Europe."
Dhinidhi topped her heat in 200m freestyle with a time of 2:06.96. But overall the time put the Bengaluru girl 23rd of the 30 who competed across four heats and she failed to progress.
"I think getting a chance to compete at the Olympics was a privilege. I had a lot of fun moments here with the big contingent. It was kind of a big family of brothers and sisters who took care of me given the fact that I'm only 14," Dhinidhi told TOI here.
The school student who trains at the Dolphin Aquatics under Madhu Kumar BM, was happy with her learning curve. "My race went pretty well. I gave my best, enjoyed it and learnt a lot and that's all that really mattered. I believe that we have a long way to go but I hope we can improve our standards and make it up there and reach world standards."
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