New Delhi:
When 19-year old Ashish Kumar finished his floor exercise routine on Thursday, he knew he had accomplished something special. He had just helped india break it's jinx of never having won a gymnastics medal at the Games.
His bronze in floor exercise is a historic first for Indian gymnastics. His next target is a medal in the vault category later today, for which he was the first to qualify for the final.
"I was expecting a Gold but got a Bronze. Anyway something is better than nothing," said Ashish.
"I was very tensed but also knew that if I miss this opportunity, I may never get another one. When I was on the floor, there were judges, supporting crowd and my name. That gave me confidence and then I started my complete set," he added.
As word of Ashish's historic feat spread, the teenager from Allahabad got his first taste of stardom, everyone wanting to shake the hand of India's new hero, or as his team calls him...Crazy gymnast.
"He does all difficult body coordination exercises. That's why we call him crazy gymnast," his brimming coach said.
This is not the first time that Ashish has created history though. He was the first Indian to win a medal at the Asian gymastics Championships in 2006, at the age of 16.
Indian coach Vladimir Chertkov had echoed the sentiments of the entire squad when he predicted that the long wait for India's first gymnastics medal would be over in Delhi. Ashish's spectacular performance just proved him right.
Though the colour of this medal is bronze, it's a huge achievement as this is the first medal for India in gymnastics in the history of the CWG. And hopefully this is just the begiining for many more such achievements.