Revision as of 22:00, 1 September 2016

Dipa Karmakar at the Rio Olympics on 7 August 2016

Family and early life

Dipa Karmakar performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics test event for the 2016 Olympic Games at the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro In August 2016. (AFP)

Dipa in August 2014, holding her Glasgow bronze medal. Behind her, in a frame, are the various medals won within India. Photo: DrManishankar Chakraborty

From DrManishankar Chakraborty

Mrs. Gita Karmakar
From DrManishankar Chakraborty

Sekhar Datta, Avishek Sengupta in Guwahati, and agencies, The Telegraph India

She was born in 1993 on a historic date - August 9, when Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India movement in 1942. Her hometown is Ujan Abhoy Nagar in Tripura. Nickname: Tina

Dipa had won bronze medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and in artistic gymnastics at the Asian championship in Hiroshima in 2015, besides being five times national champion. Dipa was given the Arjuna award on the basis of these performances, well before her selection for Rio.

Accolades poured in with cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar leading the sports fraternity in praising her for the historic feat. Tendulkar said her achievement would inspire the youth of the country.

Within hours of her qualification, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) included her in the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme, the government's initiative to fund Olympic medal prospects in their preparations for the Games.

Dipa's father Dulal Karmakar is a SAI coach for weightlifting, .

Dipa's mother Gita Karmakar homemaker, was effusive in her expression of thanks and gratitude to goddess Tripureshwari.

B.K. Chakraborty, secretary of Abhay Nagar Boys Club, recalled how Dipa was initiated into gymnastics at the age of six. "The initial hurdle that she had to cross was her flat foot, which restricted her springing action, so essential to gymnastics. But her coach Bishweshwar Nandi gradually got her in shape through practice," Chakraborty said.

First Indian woman gymnast at Olympics

Dipa Karmakar becomes first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics

PTI | Apr 18, 2016

Highlights

• Dipa could not clinch an Olympic berth in the World Championships in November 2015 as she finished outside the podium.

• Dipa was earlier put as second reserve for the ongoing Olympic Test event in Rio.

• Dipa was informed in March 2016 that she had sneaked into the shortlist of participants.

RIO DE JANEIRO: Dipa Karmakar created history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics as she booked a berth for the Rio Games after a strong performance at the final qualifying and test event.

The 22-year-old garnered a total score of 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifying event to book a berth for artistic gymnastics in Rio Games to be held here in August.

Apart from being the first Indian woman, she will also be an Indian gymnast qualifying for the quadrennial extravaganza after 52 long years.

Since the independence of the country, 11 Indian male gymnasts have taken part in the Olympics (two in 1952, three in 1956 and six in 1964) but this will be the first for an Indian woman at the Olympics.

Dipa was listed as the 79th gymnast among individual qualifiers in the list of women's artistic gymnast who have qualified for the Rio Olympics.

Her first vault, the much difficult Produnova, gave Dipa 15.066 points, the highest among the 14 competitors. But a poor show in the uneven bars took her points down as she collected 11.700, the second worse among the 14 participants.

The Tripura girl secured 13.366 and 12.566 points in beam and floor exercises.

The 22-year-old could not clinch an Olympic berth in the World Championships in November 2015 as she finished outside the podium (fifth place).

She was earlier put as second reserve for the ongoing Olympic Test event in Rio but was informed last month that she had sneaked into the shortlist of participants.

Triumphs in 2014, 2015

Dipa had created history by becoming the first [Indian] woman gymnast to win a medal -- a bronze -- in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. She then became the first Indian woman gymnast to feature in the finals of World Championships in November 2015.

The sport of gymnastics has been in turmoil in the country in the last few years with rival factions holding elections and claiming to be the national federation. Even the camps for the gymnasts has been held under the aegis of Sports Authority of India.

Olympics: Reaches finals with eighth position

At a stage when most other Indian sportsmen at the Rio Olympics 2016 were doing badly, Dipa Karmakar’s reaching the individual vault finals brought cheer to the nation.

In August 2016, The Times of India explained how the Produnova could be, if not fatal then capable of causing serious injury.

For days Dipa’s Produnova somersault was a household word in India, with TV channels explaining its perilous nature. It became a metaphor for somersaults of all kinds.

Dipa Karmakar missed a medal at the Rio Olympics by a whisker but she emerged as the pride of India, the country's hope for the next CWG, Asiad and next Olympics.

ALOK SINHA, Aug 09 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Pulls Off Daring Move Shunned By Most Gymnasts

On 7 August 2016 , Dipa Karmakar soared in the air and vaulted into history . Be fore her, no Indian gymnast had ever reached the finals at the Olympics.

Here is the heart-warming story of an unwavering 23-yearold girl from Tripura and her equally committed coach (Biseswar Nandi ) who dared to dream the impossible. At the core of Dipa's incredible journey is Produnova, one of the most exacting and dangerous vault routines in gymnastics -a front handspring followed by two speedy somersaults in the air, climaxing with a thud-like landing.Named after Russian gymnast Yelena Produnova, few dare attempt the high risk manoeuv re. But for Dipa, who comes from a lower middle-class family in Agartala, Produnova is a shining badge of identity , her signature. She is the princess of vault.

That's why at the press conference, when a Wall Street Journal reporter queried her, she was forthright in her reply .“I like to take risks,“ she said. Produnova's inclusion in Dipa's repertoire was the brainchild of Nandi, a four-time national champion from Tripura, who first saw a South African gymnast perform the routine at the Antwerp World Championship in 2013. “Some people..kept saying only boys can do this. I knew my girl's capabilities,“ he once told a newspaper.

The girl has already made him proud. “America's world champion Simone Biles came to meet me before the event and wished me luck. I was over the moon. When an athlete as big as Biles walks up to you, then you are doing something right,“ Dipa said with pride, her eyes shining.

She had scored a 14.850 in the vault routine and was sixth with three subdivisions of qualification yet to go.

She had kept her fingers crossed, tightly, thinking of those difficult times spent in the sweaty hall of Agartala where she trained under Nandi, even as a doting former weightlifter-father Dulal watched from the sidelines.

Four hours later, when she would have finished dinner at the Games Village, Dipa would have learnt that she had qualified eighth for the vault finals.

She finished 51st overall in a field of 98 but that was incidental, just a number. She is not a beam, floor or an uneven bars girl. She is simply the Produnova girl. It was touch and go when Dipa ignored the debutant's butterflies and went for broke in vault qualification. She performed the Produnova well in the first attempt but did not have a good second attempt where she had to do something different. You get two tries but you cannot repeat routines.

That was playing on her mind when she walked out to speak to the media. “Second wala thoda weak tha. I wish it was better,“ she said.

The top eight qualify for the final and she has ended up eighth, with a Q against her name. “Anything is possible. The girl from Great Britain, among the top nations in gymnastics, dropped out due to injury. Right now, I am happy to just be here, to compete with the girls I have admired, idolized,“ she told a group of Indian journalists earlier in the evening.

Talking about the judges at the Olympics, Dipa said, “The judging here is very strict. Getting high scores here is very difficult... you really have to very impressive. It is very different from Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Asian Games. People who score 14 in other events, they are scoring just 12 here. In the test event, my average score was 14.7, today my average is 14.850. If my second vault was better I would have been happier.“

House arrest

PTI

A day before her birthday, Dipa Karmakar was rewarded for getting into the Finals by being put under “house arrest“ at the Olympic Games Village by her coach Bishweshwar Nandi as she geared up for the vault finals on August 14.

Her only companions are roommate Saikhom Mirabai Chanu -the only Indian woman weightlifter -and of course Nandi who's been with her for 16 years.

“I've removed the SIM card from her mobile. Only parents are allowed to talk to her. I don't want her to lose focus,“ Nandi said. “Her birthday celebration can wait,“Nandi said.

The world's 4th best

Dipa Karmakar's brave bid for a historic Olympic medal fell agonisingly short by 0.15 points, as she finished fourth in the vault event. Karmakar performed her trademark Produnova, which vaulted her to second spot. But Maria Paseka of Russia and Simone Biles of US dislodged her, claiming silver and gold, respectively The bronze went to Swiss Giulia Steingruber with an average of 15.216 pts, just ahead of Dipa's 15.066

The Times of India on Dipa’s journey

Sep 01 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi) `Hopefully, one day a vault will be named after me'

Excerpts from The Times of India’s interview with Dipa soon after her return from the Rio Olympics, where she narrowly missed a bronze medal.

Can you take us through your journey from the beginning?

My father is a SAI weightlifting coach and he was the one who introduced me to this sport. My first coach was Shubananda madam. At that time, I didn't have much interest (in gymnastics), but I never stopped training. The level that I have reached now is all because of (Bisheswar) Nandi sir. It is due to his hard work and the sacrifices that he made to train me... I didn't think I would be here.

It was only after 2007 that I felt I should continue and when Ashish (Kumar) bhaiya won a medal at the Delhi Commomwealth Games, I felt that even I should try for a medal. Then in 2014, I started training and practising the Produnova and won a medal at the 2014 CWG... Then came the Asian Championship (2015), a Rio test event, where I qualified (for Olympics) and things changed. I got all the support from Sports Authority of India, the federation. After I qualified for Rio, SAI director general Injeti Srinivas immediately ordered latest equipment from France.

So, whose idea was it to try the Produnova?

It was my coach's idea. Produnova is the highest vault and he told me that if I want to earn good marks and win medals at international tournaments, this is one opportunity we can look at. Even if I fall, I will still get good marks. I told him I was ready and he told me that he was with me.

Before the first tournament where I was to try the Produnova, everybody was scared and felt I shouldn't be doing it, fearing injury .

Aisa nahi ki hamesha injury ka dar hota hai, abhi to mein expert ho gayi hun.

How did your first attempt go?

To begin with, it wasn't perfect. We tried it on foam pit, but I always liked Produnova.

You said you took inspiration from Ashish.He also does that style. Does it help if someone else in the country is doing the same style as you?

He had a good landing in CWG, where he won a medal. But there is a big difference in vaulting height of boys and girls. And it's not just Ashish bhaiya, there are two-three more gymnasts who are good at Produnova. When I saw them do it, I felt confident that even I could do it.

Simone Biles, the winner of four gold and a bronze medal at the Rio Games, was all praise for you...il

She is a champion and I got to meet her in Rio.She is incomparable, don't think any gymnast can match her. She told me that my routine on the vault should be called the `Karmakar vault', not Produnova. I

Why gymnastics, why not any other sports?

I have been in this sport since I was five. At that time there was not much knowledge about other sports. The state that I come from didn't have any popular sport that I could have thought of joining. We didn't even have mobile phones that we could research which sports would be good for my future. Papa introduced me to gymnastics and I continued doing it. I starting liking after a while.

(Dipa's father added: I have been asked a lot of times why I put Dipa in gymnastics and not weightlifting. She was only five then.

I have two daughters. My wife and I decided that we should put at least one child into sports. The elder one, who is now married, was not a sports enthusiast but Dipa was very energetic. She was restless and wouldn't settle down in the house even after school. Her height and figure were good for gymnastics. There was not much interest in other sports like table tennis and basketball, so I introduced her to gymnastics.

In 2002, Dipa beat senior players in the NorthEast festival competition to win gold. She slowly started to do well in this sport. Today I am very proud that she got the Khel Ratna award.)

Tripura has a long history of gymnastics...

Yes there is a tradition of gymnastics in Tripura. Even my coach Nandi sir has participated in 10 international events and was a three-time champion. The state has had several good gymnasts. Daljeet sir from Punjab was the first one to start gymnastics in Tripura and a Russian team had also come visiting. It started from there... Then there was a small gap, but the sport is picking up again now. The future looks bright.

When did you feel that you have a realistic chance of winning an Olympic medal?

In 2007 I felt I could win an Olympic medal.

How did you balance gymnastics and studies?

I feel sportspersons are naturally intelligent, so they don't need to study too much. I am not an 80 per centee but manage 50-60% in my exams. I always go from the camp a day or two before the exams. People ask me what is the hurry of sitting for exams when I have just returned from Rio. But I feel there is nothing without education and that's why my coach and parents have always advised me to continue studies.

[On the Rio Olympics]

Nandi sir explained to me that we have qualified in eighth place, so if we do well in the finals we will finish sixth or seventh, and if we fare badly we'll still be eighth, won't go below that. I was scared how my coach would react if I had a bad jump. But when he told me all that, I competed freely and did well on that day to finish fourth.

See also

The Olympics: India (2016)

Vivekananda Byamagar