For a country starved of Olympic medals, getting a ‘medal-winning acknowledgment’ despite not making a ‘podium finish in the Olympics is an absolute rarity. But the exploits of Dipa Karmarkar at the 2016 Rio Olympics almost gave us a feeling that she has won a medal in the Rio Olympics.
Why then is this 23-year-old Tripura girl receiving unbridled praise despite missing out on an Olympic medal? She had finished fourth in the women’s vault final. Well, India as a sports nation was never known for its prowess in gymnastics. It was Dipa Karmarkar, who catapulted Indian gymnastics on the global sports landscape with their consistent performances on the international stage.
Dipa nearly pulled off a medal in Rio until the US girl Simone Biles surged ahead to take the gold medal in her final attempt, pushing the Indian girl to the fourth position behind the Russian and Swiss gymnasts, who had settled for the silver and bronze medals.
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Surely, India have not won a medal in gymnastics in Rio but they have made the world gymnastics fraternity sit up and take notice of them with via exploits of Dipa. The talented gymnast, who works as a Sports Officer in the Tripura Government, has done more than enough to inculcate a ‘gymnastics culture’ in the country. “I want to encourage many young boys and girls to take up Gymnastics as India has the potential to churn out champions,” Dipa had once said.
Have a look at the ‘firsts’ she had attained over the last few years. She became the first Indian woman gymnast to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games, bagging a bronze medal in the 2014 edition in Glasgow. A few months later, Dipa became the first Indian woman gymnast to take part in the Asian Games – she finished fourth in the 2014 edition in Incheon.
She subsequently became the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Rio Olympics and went on to emerge as the first Indian woman gymnast to reach an Olympic final. For a sport that struggles to grab the eyeballs over many decades, Dipa has ensured in last three years that the country’s sports loving public at least make an attempt to follow Indian gymnastics.
There are enough indications that gymnastic infrastructure has a plenty for room for improvement. For example, the country needs an abundance of foam pits, which can ensure athletes are injury-free. For now, foam pits not available all over India and is only available in places like Delhi, Allahabad, Mumbai among a few others.
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Dipa, by her own admission, owes everything she has achieved in gymnastics to her self-effacing coach Bisheshwar Nandi, who has been training her for last 13-14 years. Such is Dipa’s unstinted trust in her coach that she rejected opportunities from SAI and the Sports Ministry to train with a foreign coach. Her father Dulal Karmarkar, a former weightlifter and a weightlifting coach at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Tripura, is indeed a proud father.
“Qualifying for the Olympics was always Dipa’s dream and the entire family is really happy to see her achieve that. She has done more than what was expected; there is no disappointment over Dipa missing out on a medal as she gave her best in a tough field,” he gushes.
One hopes that Dipa, who will take a short break and hit the training drills to prepare for the World Cup in Hungary, will trigger a ‘gymnastics revolution’ across the country. Hopefully, her exploits would prompt concerned authorities to fast-forward upgradations of gymnastic infrastructure across the country. Indian gymnastics will richly benefit from them.
