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Tough Journey of Dipa Karmakar to Rio Olympic

By Lisa
Time
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Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympic games. Her efforts and achievements were acknowledged and appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi too.

PM Modi had said, "Dipa has made India proud and brought glory to its name. First time, a daughter from the country has been selected in gymnastics stream for the Rio Olympics. She has achieved the feat through her determination. Lack of resources never came in her way".

Dipa Karmakar

However journey of the 22 year old woman from Tripura has not at all been easy.

Who helped her:

Ram Nivas Gupta - He was a former national gymnastics champion. He got posted as a Project Officer with the Sports Authority of India in Delhi. He insisted that the authorities send the French equipment which was got for Delhi Commonwealth Games for Dipa and others to train.

Bisheshwar Nandi - He is a former national champion and coach of Dipa.

Injit Srinivas - He is a former Joint Secretary in Sports Ministry. He ignored bureaucratic red tape to assist Dipa and other players. When he took over as the Director General of Sports Authority of India (SAI) it was a big help to Dipa and other players.

What more could have been done:

Dipa has weak landing for this Ram Nivas Gupta says that she needs stronger legs and joints. Mr. Gupta was of opinion that after Commonwealth Games in Glasgow she should have sent for extensive training to a foreign country.

Mr. Gupta was also of the opinion that she should have been provided with bio medic experts and psychologists too.

Dipa's achievements:

Successfully completed the Produnova - Produnova is a gymnastic move named after legendary athlete Yelena Produnova. this move has only been completed in official tournaments by five gymnasts as it is considered extremely difficult routine. Dipa is the third woman to have completed this move. This routine involves a front handspring and two front somersaults.

This move is so risky that there is a talk to ban it. If the gymnast lands on neck or spine it can cause serious injury or result in death of the gymnast. In the words of Dipa, "I had seen boys do it, so why not? It is tough because when you land after two aerial somersaults, the weight that comes on the leg is double - if I'm 45 kg, the legs have to take 80-90 kg. Now, imagine landing on the neck instead, which can crack under such weight. I do not imagine the worst, it does not work like that".

She created history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. She then finished fourth at the Incheon Asian Games and finished fifth at the World Championships.

Dipa Karmakar is appreciated on Twitter:

Published On April 20, 2016
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