Gaurika's age and achievements have not gone unnoticed in the Nepalese press.

"She is Nepal's best swimmer so far," declares The Kathmandu Post, adding that she "broke Nepal's drought" with her haul of four medals at the South Asian Games in India earlier this year.

Gaurika "reacted with total disbelief" when she found out she is the youngest athlete at the Games, The Annapurna Post newspaper notes.Image copyrightTWITTERImage captionGaurika and her father, Paras Singh.

A special photo feature in Nepali-language paper eKantipur recalls that Gaurika survived the country's devastating earthquake in 2015.

Social media users express excitement over her Olympic debut and thank her for making the nation "proud".

"Gaurika has boosted our pride and dignity," says Sandeep JnawaLi in a post in Nepali.

And many Twitter and Facebook users are urging Gaurika on to deliver a "brilliant performance" at the Games