Junior Gymnast – Jumping Towards the Olympics

Anjali from Grade 9 took part in a week-long Junior Gymnastics national championship, between 22-26 November in Jammu. The level of the competition was very high, but Anjali did well representing Karnataka among 27 other states. Having improved over the years, Anjali is now ranked number one in Karnataka and 37 in the whole of India. We reached out to Anjali to find out more about her gymnastics and her hopes for the future. 

It is my dream to go to the Olympics – Anjali, Grade 9 

Travelling to Jammu to participate in the 56th Junior National Artistic Gymnastics championship was a great experience for Anjali. Although receiving 1.5 points less than the gymnasts who went on to the finals, Anjali felt happy with her accomplishments. “Even though I did not win, participating in the junior nationals was a really good learning experience for me and it was nice to see so many talented people in India”, says Anjali, who has been training competitively for 4 years, and practice around three hours per day, six days per week.  

Being selected to represent Karnataka in the competition was a great adventure for Anjali and her journey. “I felt honoured to be able to represent Karnataka amongst 27 other states, but it was also a bit overwhelming seeing so many competitors”, says Anjali. “It is my dream to go to the Olympics and getting selected to represent Karnataka at the Junior National championships was one step closer”, says Anjali, who hopes to get into a prestigious college for gymnastics and one day represent India in international competitions worldwide.