When the country was prepping to send a record contingent of over 100 athletes to the 2016 Rio Olympics, little did anyone think that an unknown gymnast would come home as a star – a household name and an athlete respected for her fourth-place finish.
From her historic qualification to her stunning Produnova vault, the diminutive Dipa Karmakar gracefully leaped and twisted her way to the top in 2016.
Her tryst with gymnastics, however, started a long time back. The perfect example of sheer grit and and determination, the 23-year-old worked rigorously from a very young age. And managed to overcome daunting hurdles to script create history – not once but several times over.
From Tripura to Rio
The daughter of weightlifting coach Dulal Karmakar, Dipa was introduced to gymnastics in her hometown Agartala when she was just five. Her fear of falling coupled with her flat feet made her initial days in the sport quite tough.
But with unflinching support from her coach Bishweshwar Nandi, she slowly fought her way to her first international tournament in London in 2010. And, from there on, to her first international medal at the 2011 South Asian Games.
Nandi’s discovery of the ‘Produnova vault’ – a front handspring followed by two double front somersaults – became the defining moment of Dipa’s career. The riskiest and hardest vault in women’s artistic gymnastics attempted only five people in the world, the Produnova brought Dipa into the limelight on the world stage.
When she first performed it competitively, Dipa created history by clinching the bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. And in April 2016, ‘the Vault of Death’ helped Dipa become the first ever Indian woman to qualify for the Olympics.
A few hours after qualifying, the Tripura girl again made history by clinching the gold in the vaults finals at the test event of the Rio Games – becoming the only Indian woman to finish first in a global gymnastic competition.
In the run-up to Rio, Dipa refused financial assistance and the chance to train in a country of her choice. With a physio, masseuse and a doctor at her disposal, she prepared for the world’s most prestigious sporting event in the capital with her childhood coach Bishweshwar Nandi.
Rio: Celebrating her 23rd Birthday, and 4th Place Finish
In the qualifying round of the Olympics, Dipa had one of the highest points for difficulty (7.000) among the women for her risky Produnova vault. But she failed to pull off the move cleanly as her bottom touched the mat before she bounced back on to her feet.
A score of 15.100 was much lower than what she had hoped for. And when she stumbled sideways following her second vault to notch up 14.600, she had earned an average score of 14.850 that left her sixth in the standings at the time. The score, she knew, could be easily overtaken since more than half the field had yet to compete.
However, a few hours later when she was back in the Olympics Village, Dipa realised that her 23rd birthday the next day would be a double celebration. Karmakar had once again scripted history as she became the first Indian to qualify for the individual vault finals after finishing 8th in the qualifying round.
On the eve of India’s 70th Independence Day, Dipa Karmakar missed the bronze medal by a whisker (literally, she was just 0.15 less than the eventual bronze winner). She finished fourth in the women’s fault finals – but still created history and made her nation proud by producing the best-ever performance by an Indian gymnast at the Olympics.
Dipa’s accomplishment in Rio was unprecedented. Even the gold medal winner in the event, American pre-event favourite Simone Biles, told Dipa that the ‘Produnova vault’ should be re-named the ‘Karmakar vault’ and that she (Simone) would never try to attempt the fatal vault.
Post Rio
Fresh from her historic feat at the Rio Olympics, an optimistic Dipa touched down in the country to a rousing welcome in New Delhi. She candidly said she was oblivious to all the frenzy she had generated in the past few days, while promising a medal in the next Summer Games.
Dipa impressed people all over again by appearing for her MA political science exams at the Tripura University just a day after her return.
With Rio medallist PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, Dipa was conferred India’s highest sporting honour – the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – while her coach Nandi received the Dronacharya Award.
Post the Games, Dipa also stayed in the news for selling the BMW presented to her by Sachin Tendulkar, owing to maintenance issues. She instead bought a brand new Hyundai Elantra with the money she received.
Behind the Scenes
Just like Mahavir Phogat ‘encouraged’ his daughters to take up wrestling, Dulal Karmakar is the sole reason Dipa took up gymnastics in the first place. Thus, all due credit must given to him and the family, who supported and backed Dipa through the years.
An inspiring journey to the Olympic stage, India hopes to see it’s Produnova queen fulfil her promise and make it to the podium in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
(This piece is being republished from The Quint’s archives on the occasion of Dipa Karmakar’s 24th birthday. It was originally published on 31 December 2016.)
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