Gold medallist gymnast Margarita Mamun’s father promised to take her to Bangladesh: Shahriar

Rio gold medallist rhythmic gymnast Margarita Mamun’s father had promised to take her to Bangladesh after the Olympics, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam says.

Alam was on an official visit to Moscow last year in June when he hosted a dinner to celebrate the European championship win of the Russian-Bangladeshi gymnast.

Born in Moscow to a Bangladeshi father, Abdullah Al Mamun Shipar from Durgapur Upazila in northern Rajshahi district, she called it "a victory for two countries" after winning individual all-around Olympic gold.

The 20-year-old Russian goes by the nickname of 'The Bengal Tiger'.

“Mamun bhai promised (me) to take her daughter to Bangladesh after the Olympic. Then the flower bouquet for the ‘Tigress of Bengal’ will definitely be much bigger,” Shahriar wrote on his Facebook page, posting last year’s photos in which he was handing over a small bouquet.

He also recalled the dinner that he had hosted to celebrate her glory in the European championship.

To win the Olympic medal, Margarita beat the overwhelming favourite and three-time world champion Yana Kudryavtseva, who surrendered her title hopes when her twirling act with the clubs went horribly wrong in its dying seconds.

File Photo

Throwing the club high into the air, the Russian rolled over on the floor ready to catch it as she went to strike her final pose, only to have the apparatus land beyond her outstretched hand.

“It was quite unexpected for me to win the gold medal today because before today Yana beat me and win each time in the all-round. So, I wasn't really thinking about winning the gold medal today,” said Mamun, who earned Russia a fifth successive gold in the discipline.

She was also delighted that her victory was also being celebrated in her father’s homeland. She had represented Bangladesh as a junior.

“I'm really happy knowing that I have a lot of fans in Bangladesh who have been supporting me,” added Mamun in Russian.

“I can count one to 10 in Bengali. When I was younger my dad used to teach me Bengali but I have forgotten it all.”

And why did she choose to represent Bangladesh as a junior considering she was born and raised in her mother's homeland?

“I had dual citizenship so that's why I decided to represent Bangladesh in one competition as a junior. I came back to represent Russia as I always lived and trained in Russia.”