8 Interesting facts about Dipa Karmakar, India’s first Olympic gymnast

On April 18th 2016, Karmakar became the first ever Indian woman gymnast to qualify for an Olympics after she entered the finals of a test event at Rio De Janeiro with a score of 52.698 finishing at 42nd place.

Here are a few interesting facts about this Indian Olympian: 

1.      Dipa Karmakar, born on 9 August 1993 in Agartala, Tripura is an elite Indian artistic gymnast. She first took to gymnastics at the age of six and started to train under veteran Bisbeshwar Nandi. He has been her coach ever since.

2.      Dipa Karmakar bagged her first gold medal at the North East Games in Agartala in 2002 at the age of nine. She was also a participant in the 2010 Indian gymnastics contingent in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and gained further motivation to excel in the sport when she saw Ashish Kumar win India’s first ever gymnastics gold at the games.

3.      At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Karmakar became the first Indian woman and the second Indian to win a medal in gymnastics. She is an all-around competitor and also a vault specialist.

4.      In 2015, Karmakar logged the highest score on a 'Produnova'. Produnova is the most difficult gymnastic sprint involving a hand sprint and two somersault. Only four gymnasts have mastered it after Elena Produnova, after whom it was named. Dipa is one of the four gymnasts to have done it. It takes a high-level of dedication and focus to do the Produnova and the grace with which Dipa does it is unimaginable.

5.      She created history by becoming the first Indian to progress through to the finals of the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with a tally of 14.900 in the qualifying round to seal a spot at the finals where she finished 5th with a tally of 14.863.

6.      India does not have a great history in gymnastics. Dipa learnt it, mastered it and is now riding on the success that gymnastics gave her. She did not have many people to look up to from India and that can be a disadvantage, but she took it upon herself to became one.

7.      She is fondly called the 'Golden Girl of Tripura' after becoming a finalist in the Asian Games, World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

 8.      She is being sponsored by the Bangalore-based non-profit organisation GoSports Foundation. They played a key role in funding her training for all these years.