Ever since she returned from the Tokyo Olympics, gymnast Pranati Nayak has been battling contradictions within herself.

On the one hand, there is pride in having represented her country at the Olympics, on the other, she is somewhat saddened at the negative criticism she drew as she was unable to qualify for the all-around finals.

Pranati had scored a total of 42.565 in subdivision 1 and was ranked 12th in the event. The score was based on performances in four categories — uneven bars, balance beam, vault and floor exercise.

“To be honest, where did I get the time to be totally Olympic-ready?,” Pranati told The Telegraph.

The gymnast was speaking at a programme at The Little Gym where she and her coach Lakhan Manohar Sharma were felicitated on Saturday.

“With several tournaments cancelled — including the Asian Championships which were scheduled to be held from May 29 in Hangzhou (China) — qualification came down to my results at the last World Championships,” she added.

The 26-year-old from Midnapore in Bengal, who won bronze in the vault at the Asian Championships in March 2019, thereby made the cut through the continental quota.

“On April 28, I was informed that the tournament would be cancelled and I would qualify through the continental quota. From May 4, I joined camp and I practised barely two months prior to Tokyo. On top of that, there remained the uncertainty of whether the Olympics would, at all, go ahead.

“The sudden load of practice gave me a lot of body pain. I couldn’t take the full pressure of practice. I could train only that much which the body allowed,” Pranati continued.

“I was determined to give my best — which I did. But that obviously wasn’t good enough on the global platform and to have expected more of me under the given circumstances was perhaps not fair.

“However, many in India never thought that there would be, post Dipa Karmakar, another Indian competing in gymnastics at the Olympics. At least not so soon. I consider it as an achievement that India had a representation in gymnastics,” Pranati, who took to gymnastics when she was eight, said.

For Pranati, competing with the best athletes in the world at the Olympics was an enriching experience.

“I met Oksana (Chusovitina, the only female gymnast who has taken part in 8 Olympics Games) and exchanged a few words with her.”

An incident which touched her was on the day of the inauguration when the athletes were being taken by bus to the venue.

“The locals had lined up on either side of the road and were waving at all the athletes in the bus. That was such a nice gesture.”

She has already plunged back into practice at the SAI, Eastern Centre and has much to look forward to next year — The Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games — from where she is determined to return with a medal.

As for Paris 2024, that is still far away and she intends to take it one step at a time.