It is a very rare occasion when the whole of India celebrates a losing effort, but Dipa Karmakar’s feat in finishing 4th in the Vault final of Rio 2016 is an achievement that has broken several stereotypes. She might have missed out on a place on the Olympics podium, but she missed by the narrowest of margins, and she had scripted history by qualifying for the final anyway. India has found a new national hero, and it looks like Dipa has plans to not lose this status any time soon.
Proud father Dulal Karmakar was watching his daughter participate on a TV set up on an Agartala rooftop, with family and friends gathered around. Speaking after the Olympics final on Sunday, he said, "I am feeling very proud of her accomplishment. I am not at all sad. This was her first Olympics. Next time, when the Olympics will be held in Japan, she will perform much better and bring a medal for the country.
"Dipa's performance has made everyone notice her. There are four years to go for the next Olympics. She will practice hard and easily bring a medal.”
Dulal Karmakar had himself been a national level weightlifter, but his daughter has attained highs he had never imagined for himself. Now that Dipa has reached this level, Dulal feels that her winning a medal in the next Olympic Games in Tokyo four years from now is only a matter of natural progression.
He said, "She is no more Tripura's girl but entire country's girl."
‘A manager would have helped Dipa’s team in final’
Dipa’s father also raised a serious concern, though he confessed that he did not know how things had been finally arranged. He said that a manager had been designated to travel with Dipa to Rio as part of her team, but that this never came about. He said that it is the role of gymnasts’ managers to challenge the rulings of the panel of judges. When it comes to such a close call, this allegation needs to be paid more attention to.
Dipa’s average score of 15.066 points was just 0.150 points behind bronze winner Giulia Steingruber’s 15.216. Dipa was the only gymnast with a score in excess of 15 who did not finish up on the podium. Under such circumstances, with the narrowest margins in question, a person in Dipa’s team fitting the description of the manager would have been invaluable. However, like many other things, a manager is something Dipa did not have and her opponents did.
"A manager is absolutely needed in such big events because a coach cannot do everything alone," Dulal Karmakar said.
"When I was in Delhi during the training session, I had heard that the manager would go to Rio but I don't know if he had gone there or not. The coach would have received a big help if a manager had been there.
"A physiotherapist had also been sent to help in her recovery post-practice but there were some formalities that couldn't be fulfilled and perhaps as a result of that he couldn't be there during the final," Dipa's father added.
