Watch Nethra Kumanan trail for the Olympics
Watch Nethra Kumanan trail for the Olympics

Chennai girl Nethra Kumanan was 12 the year she started sailing.

Now 23, she has just become the first Indian to earn an Olympic spot in sailing.

The nine Indian sailors who have participated in the Games so far, all men, participated through continental quotas.

Kumanan won her spot by finishing as the best Asian, and second overall, at the Laser Radial event in last week’s Mussanah Open Championship in Oman.

Laser Radial is a classification in dinghy sailing, a single-handed boat sailed by one person.

Take a look at what it takes to train for this sport at this level, and what it looks like to practice it on the seas