13-year-old Nepali swimmer becomes youngest Olympian at Rio

Kathmandu, Aug 2 (ANI): With just 13 years and 235 days, Nepali swimmer Gaurika Singh has imprinted her name in the history books after she became the youngest athlete to participate at 31st Rio Olympics. According to the official Rio Olympics website, the five-foot one inch tall swimmer has been named as the youngest among the over 10,000 athlete to compete in Games scheduled for August 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her father, Paras, who is an urologist at Royal Free Hospital in London, said that his daughter is special. "It's unbelievable that she's the youngest Olympian in Rio and amazing how she copes with all the pressure," Paras was quoted as saying by the website. "I wanted to go (to the Rio) but wasn't sure I'd be able to because I'd be too young," Gaurika was quoted as saying by Kathmandupost. The five-foot one inch tall athlete will compete in 100m backstroke heats. The 13-year-old wonder girl broke Nepal's drought of individual medal at international event, claiming one silver (200m individual medley) and three bronze medals (200m backstroke 100m backstroke, 400m freestyle) during the 12th South Asian Games in Assam and Guwahati in India early this year. (ANI)