INDORE: Winning a gold medal in the Olympics is the ultimate dream of Madhya Pradesh diver Palak Sharma, who is among the 32 winners of the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, 2021, awarded to children for exceptional abilities and outstanding accomplishments.
Palak Sharma (13), a resident of Indore, was on Monday chosen for the prestigious award in the sports category.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the winners and interacted with them through video-conferencing in which Palak Sharma took part from Indore.
After the programme, she told reporters, My biggest dream is to win a gold medal for the country in the Olympics.
Because of COVID-19, swimming pools of the city are closed which is affecting her practice.
After getting information about it, district collector Manish Singh directed officials to start a local swimming pool again so that te diver can practice regularly.
Palak Sharmas father Pankaj Sharma said his daughter developed interest in diving since she was just eight-year-old.
Officials informed that Palak Sharma had won a gold medal in 2019 in an Asian diving championship.
Besides, she has represented Madhya Pradesh in six national-level tournaments and so far, won 12 gold and four silver medals in different categories, they said.