Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's appointment as Indian Olympics Association's Goodwill Ambassador for the Rio Olympics generated quite a lot of controversy with several former and current sportsperson slamming the movie. And Salman did his cause no good and left the IOA further embarrassed when he referred to India's gymnast Dipa Karmakar as 'Deepika' during an event in Mumbai on Monday.
Dipa is the country's first woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games. She is also the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut Games after finishing eighth in the qualifying round and will compete for a historic medal in the finals on August 14.
The Tripura-girl managed to perform her much-appreciated 'Produnova' vault cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts and has became an instant hit not only in India but also got a lot attention around the world.
Salman, whose appointment as IOA's goodwill ambassador in April was slammed by Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and legendary sprinter Milkha Singh, seemed to have no clue about who Dipa was and how she fared so far at the Rio Games.
When asked by a journalist at the trailer launch of the film 'Freaky Ali' on Dipa's superb performance in the qualification round, the veteran actor replied: “I thought… it was… was it Deepika? I thought she was going to win gold but she came eighth, no?"
The reporter tried to correct him saying: "Deepti," to which Salman agreed: "Oh yeah, Deepti."
Interestingly, Dipa was one of the athletes, Salman had promoted in the run up to the Rio Olympics after his appointment as the goodwill ambassador for the Games.
"Let’s cheer our 2016 Olympic stars. Here’s Dipa Karmakar #YouMakeUsProud," he had tweeted.
Wish India's darling Dipa Karmakar a happy birthday!
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