Calcutta/Rio de Janeiro: After becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar is now eyeing a medal at the Rio Games.

The 22-year-old garnered a total score of 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifying event to book a berth for artistic gymnastics in the Olympics. Hours after securing her berth, she vaulted to the gold medal at the test event in Rio on Monday.

"It is a good feeling to win a gold medal," Dipa was quoted as saying in the official Facebook page of the International Federation of Gymnastics.

"My next objective is an Olympic medal," she said after clinching the gold in vault finals. The Tripura girl scored 14.833 as her best effort to finish first in the women's vault finals at the Rio Olympic Arena.

She defeated 2008 Olympic silver medallist Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan.

Apart from being the first Indian woman, she will also be the first Indian gymnast qualifying for the quadrennial extravaganza after 52 long years.

Since India's independence, 11 Indian men gymnasts have taken part in the Olympics (two in 1952, three in 1956 and six in 1964), but this will be the first for an Indian woman.

Speaking to a TV channel on Tuesday, Dipa said: "I am really happy. I am living in a world of dreams. I am overwhelmed that the Prime Minister, President and Sachin Tendulkar have tweeted about me."

Asked if this was the best moment of her career, she said: "I never thought that it will happen so quickly. I have been doing gymnastics for the last 16 years.

"I always wanted to do something big for the country and thought of representing India at the Olympics. At last, I have reached the first step of my career goal."

Dipa celebrated in Rio with her coach Bisbeshwar Nandi and project officer Indrajeet Pabla. "I was tired after the competition, but we went to the nearby beach to celebrate. I am extremely happy," she said.

Asked what would be the challenge now, she said: "The real challenge begins now. Absolutely. My earnest desire is to create history at the Olympics. For that, I have four months and I have to really work hard."

The journey has been tough for Dipa and her family. And now its a time to celebrate. "Everyone is happy at home. I used to practice gymnastics in Agartala.

"I watched Ashish Kumar win a medal in gymnastics in the 2010 Asian Games. Since then, I thought women should also win medals in gymnastics.

"Since 2014, SAI officials have been helping me out. It wouldn't have been possible without the dedication and hard work of my coach...

"For practising the 'Produnova' vault, SAI prepared a foam pit for me at the IGI Stadium. That helped me to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games and Asian championship.

"All of us had only one goal in mind. It was because of the hard work of my support team that I was able to qualify for the Olympics," she said.

Asked if she felt that despite her success, her coach Nandi had not been given the Dronacharya Award yet, Dipa said: "I do not want to be dragged into any sort of controversy, but I feel that he will be given the Dronacharya this year."

Moments after she qualified, she sent home a text message: " Hum qualify ho gaya." No wild celebrations, no preening, no exaggerated sound bytes. It had been a nervous wait to get invited for the test event - she was 26th after World Championships, second reserve.