Dipa will now compete in the Women’s Vault in the Artistic Gymnastics final, on August 14th, 2016.
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Gymnast wins hearts with daredevilry, makes history by entering vault quarters Forget the Indian media, it was the global press that was found chasing India’s first Olympic gymnast Dipa Karmakar.
On Aug. 07, the 22-year-old from Tripura made history in Rio de Janeiro as the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the women’s vault finals at the Olympics.
In hockey, Indian women, back in the Olympics after a 36-year long wait, controlled their nerves to share the points with Japan in their maiden outing of the quadrennial extravaganza. She had ended sixth after the third of five subdivisions. Eventually, she dropped to 8 when Canadian Shallon Olsen’s terrific effort of 14.950 rejigged the overall standings. “I’ll just be focussed on doing my best at the Games”, said Dipa.
“I am feeling so good”, she told media persons who were falling over each other for a byte as she walked the athlete’s ramp in the mixed zone. Egypt’s Fadwa Mahmoud attempted her very first Produnova and landed on her face coming frighteningly close to injuring her neck. In her second attempt, Dipa pulled off a “Tsuk double full twist” with a step to the side. Biles walked up to me today and wished me luck before the competition. “I’ve seen her tremendous hard work and determination”. In the other rounds, Dipa scored decently in execution, which finalised her entry. In balance beam, she scored 7.566 for execution and 5.3 for difficulty while in floor exercises her scores read 7.133 for execution and 5.2 for difficulty with a penalty of 0.3. “It affects the spring in her jump”, says her coach Bisweshwar Nandi. To have become the first Indian to reach this Olympic height is truly remarkable.
The government doesn’t offer a lot of support to gymnastics, and Dipa came from humble beginnings. But there’s no comparison of the test event to that of the atmosphere in the Olympics.
“The judging here is very strict”.
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Vijay Goel, who witnessed the match said that “there was no point in getting disappointed so early in the Olympics. The scoring is tight”, added the Indian. In the all-round standings, Dipa finished 51st out of 98 gymnasts with a score of 51.665. It was “Produnova” that worked once again, catapulting Dipa into the Olympic final which will be held on August 14. And her father is also hoping for the same.
“Dipa Karmakar is now one of the best-known female vaulters in the world”, Jim Holt, who has coached 7 nations at fourteen World Championships, certified, back in in 2014. “She will go all out in the finals”.
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Dulal also informed that the entire locality of the area they live in here, had flocked in front of their TV sets to watch Dipa’s event. Initially I was scared when she tried it but her never-say-die attitude makes her confident. Once the confirmation of her entry to the final came in the morning, the mood in the Karmakar household turned into a one of celebration. It’s more than cut-throat out there, but the country would do well to not limit its satisfaction to just the fact that an Indian has made the finals.
