As the nation looked on, Dipa Karmakar made history at the ongoing Rio Olympics when she qualified for the vault finals event with seven other gymnasts. Now the nations prays and hopes that the 23-year-old gymnast from Agartala will bring home a medal.
Born and raised in a country where cricket is a religion and other sports have always played second fiddle, Dipa’s journey to Rio has been a tough one. Then why, one wonders, did she ask for an Olympic vaulting table instead of financial assistance worth 30 lakh offered to her by the Sports Authority of India (SAI)?
Why Did Dipa Decline Financial Assistance?
After winning in the 2014 Commonwealth games, Dipa became a medal hopeful for India at the 2016 Rio games. When offered financial assistance worth Rs 30 lakh by the Sports Authority of India and the chance to train in a country of her choice, with a flexible budget, she declined both.
But that was not all.
When Dipa was included in the ambit of the TOP (Target Olympic Podium) scheme initiated by the Indian government for training Olympic athletes, she smiled and said she didn’t need the extra money and was happy with the training she was doing, said reports.
Instead of grabbing with both hands the opportunity to train with world-class facilities in USA, Canada or China, Dipa chose to train in her own nation with nothing but one demand, which was getting the same vaulting table that is used at the Olympics, so that she could practice her landing.
Dipa’s decision was not an ordinary one and requires one to think, and think hard, as to why an athlete would decline such an opportunity.
Dipa didn’t decline the offer because she would have been home-sick; she declined it to show the authorities and everyone else that an Indian athlete should not have to go to another country to train to win a medal for their own nation.
Why Being an Indian is a Handicap for Sportspersons
Pursuing any sport requires one to invest a certain amount of money into it. However, a sport like gymnastics that is based on a scientific system is relatively more expensive to pursue. this is why not many people take up gymnastics in India.
Countries like USA, North Korea, Canada, China, on the other hand, have strong gymnastic traditions, giving Dipa, who will be competing against athletes from those nations, a certain disadvantage.
Daughter of a weightlifting coach and the younger of two sisters, Dipa was turned down by the Sports Authority of India at a young age but that did not stop her.
From training with equipment made out of discarded scooter parts to landing on hard surfaces and compromising on her education, Dipa struggled till she won the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where she competitively performed the Produnova vault for the first time.
Caught in a Political Crossfire
The commonwealth medal however did not mark the end of Dipa’s struggle. A known face in the sporting world, Dipa was now caught between the politics of the two factions of the national gymnastics federation.
A year before the Olympics, Karmakar was being made to choose sides where going in either directions would mean a serious dearth of coaching camps, foreign exposure, competitions, and funding.
Having turned down those options, Dipa trained under the disciplined guidance of Bishweshwar Nandi – one of the major forces behind the gymnast reaching the heights she did sans financial and training support.
(Source: Sportkeeda)
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