Olympian Dipa Karmakar may have missed out on a gold medal by a whisker but the Cricket Club of India (CCI) is keen not to miss on an opportunity to reward her effort in Rio de Janeiro.
As the name suggests, CCI is an organisation which is concerned with cricket, but the organisation was incorporated in 1933 to promote sports in general and mainly focused on cricket.
The members of the esteemed club have decided to reward the gymnast who performed the breathtaking ‘Produnova’ vault. After her heartbreaking podium finish miss, CCI have decided to help the Agartala-born girl, who braved all odds and performed at the highest level in a sport the country hardly cared about before the Rio Games.
Also Read: Rio 2016: Dipa Karmakar's message to the nation on Independence Day
Dipa trained under a spring board made out of scooter and used a marriage hall as her practice ground before the Olympics, which shows that dedication is the foremost thing in any discipline.
Known for hosting its matches in the famous Brabourne Stadium, the members showed intent to pool funds and reward the Olympian. Within a span of a day, they managed to collect 1 lakh rupees and it is also learnt as per reports from Bangalore Mirror that CCI would be sending a cheque worth 5 lakhs to Dipa in the next few days.
Last Sunday, she competed in the finals of the women’s vault event in the on-going Rio Olympics. She lost out on a bronze medal to Swiss gymnast Giulia Steingruber with an overall score of 15.066. It was the first time an Indian female gymnast qualified for the Olympic Games.
With India’s largest contingent failing to step on the podium this Olympics, Dipa was one of the few highlights for the nation. Dipa started practising Gymnastics at the tender age of 6 under Coach Bisweshwar Nandi. Having been in the limelight due to her performance at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the gymnast took her good form and won a Bronze Medal in the ‘Asian Championships’ in Hiroshima last year.
With less than a week left for the Games to conclude, India is still on the hunt for its first medal. But there is still a ray of hope as Indian shuttler P. V.Sindhu has made it to the last four. Even if an athlete does a medal for the tricolour, Dipa’s effort would not be forgotten.
