Hobbies
Dancing, listening to music. (Instagram profile, 22 Apr 2021)
Occupation
Athlete
Spoken languages
Bengali, English, Hindi
Club
West Bengal State: India
Coach
Rohit Jaiswal [personal], from 2022
International senior debut
2012
Injuries
She competed at the 2022 National Games in India despite struggling with hamstring and knee injuries. She also injured her ankle during the Games, but recovered in time to compete at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool, England. (kreedon.com, 18 Oct 2022; SportsDeskOnline, 21 Apr 2023)
She injured her knee a week before the start of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. She went on to compete at the Games but her performance was affected by the injury. (telegraphindia.com, 20 Sep 2021; indianexpress.com, 29 Jul 2021; indiatoday.in, 27 Jul 2021)
Start sporting career
She began the sport at age seven in her hometown of Medinipur, India. In 2004 she moved to Kolkata to pursue the sport and began training with coach Minara Begum.
Reason for taking up the sport
She liked to practise yoga as a child and took up gymnastics thinking it was the same. Her father Sumanta then took her to the Sports Authority of India [SAI] centre in Kolkata based on her school coach's recommendation. "I started gymnastics thinking it was like yoga. I used to practice in my village, and do the chakrasana."
Milestones
She became the first Indian gymnast to claim two medals at the Asian championships when she took bronze on vault at the 2022 edition of the tournament in Doha, Qatar. She had previously won bronze on the same apparatus at the 2019 Asian Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (telegraphindia.com, 08 Jul 2022; SportsDeskOnline, 21 Apr 2023)
Ambitions
To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (yespunjab.com, 27 Jul 2022)
Trainings
She trains at the Sports Authority of India [SAI] centre in Kolkata, India.
Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning bronze on vault at the 2019 Asian Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (indianexpress.com, 22 Jun 2019)
Hero / Idol
Indian artistic gymnast Dipa Karmakar. (olympics.com, 24 Jul 2021; Athlete, 17 Aug 2018)
Most influential person in career
Coach Minara Begum. (Athlete, 17 Aug 2018)
Additional information
FAMILY BACKGROUND
Her father was a state transport bus driver in West Bengal until 2017, and she has had to take care of the family after he retired. "Everything I do is for my parents. They've not had an easy life, and I want to ensure my father gets comfortable. He's driven a bus for many years and now I want life to be a little easy for him." (hindustantimes.com, 17 May 2021; olympics.com, 03 May 2021; indianexpress.com, 22 Jun 2019; timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 30 May 2018)
INFLUENTIAL COACH
She began working with coach Minara Begum at age eight until 2019 when Begum retired. Begum even paid for her living expenses when Nayak first moved to Kolkata for training in 2004. "My parents couldn't have afforded my sports career. [Begum] took care of my stay, food, other expenses and pocket money." (indianexpress.com, 09 May 2021; thebridge.in, 05 May 2021; espn.com, 02 May 2021; indianexpress.com, 22 Jun 2019; sportstar.thehindu.com, 26 Jun 2019)
Last update : 2024-07-22
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