Gymnastics great Miller hails Dipa for showing path to youngsters

It has always been said that hard work and passion are the keys to achieving anything in life and even the seven-time Olympic medallist gymnast Shannon Miller feels the same.

On Thursday (January 16) during Tata Mumbai Marathon, Miller said Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar has shown the young athletes that anything could be achieved with hard work and passion.

“What Dipa (Karmakar) has done has shown the next generation of young athletes all over India that it is possible with hard work and passion to go the height of Olympic Games and it is a great way to inspire the youth of India,” Miller said.

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The 42-year-old, who was also the event ambassador told the reporters that running was the foundation of any sport and in 2007 she ran the full marathon in New York and a half-marathon in Florida earlier.

The former American artistic gymnast was the 1993-94 world all-round champion, the 1996 Olympic balance beam champion, the 1995 Pan American Games champion and a member of the gold-winning-magnificent seven-team at the 1996 Olympics.

Karmakar rose to fame during the 2016 Rio Olympics where she finished fourth in women’s vault event. She was the first Indian woman gymnast to compete in the Olympics.

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Speaking about her inspirational journey, Miller said, “We talk about success but it doesn’t come without failure. It is essential to learn how to back yourself up, if not succeeding. For me, it is challenging myself every day to do something more than I usually do.

“I wasn’t the most challenging or most powerful person in the room but I out-worked everyone. I always wanted to be the consistent one and the hardest worker in the group.”

(With inputs from agencies)