Dipa Karmakar Makes History By Winning Gold At Gymnastics World Challenge Cup

With a tremendous performance in the Mersin World Challenge Cup being held in Turkey, ace gymnast Dipa Karmakar made history yet again by claiming the gold medal in the women’s vault event and coming fourth in balance beam.

This glorious win comes in almost 2 years after Dipa Karmakar became the first female gymnast from India to qualify for Olympics and missing the Rio Olympics bronze medal by just a few points.

Karmakar had reportedly undergone surgery after having suffered an Anetrior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury after the Rio Olympics. She finally made a comeback at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, after a two-year hiatus and emerged victoriously.

According to a report in The Hindu, “Dipa, who topped the vault qualification with 13.4, improved her performance by a few notches to garner 14.15 points and secure the top honour in her pet event.” She finished fourth on the balance beam after tying on 12.1 with Azerbaijan’s Yuliya Inshina.

This is Karmakar’s first medal in a World Cup Series. Her incredible feat is being celebrated and applauded across the nation and fellow sportspersons, as well as famous personalities, are lauding the 24-year-old Karmarkar who hails from Tripura.

“This is history and Dipa has created it. She is now the first Indian gymnast to win a gold in a world level event,” Gymnastics Federation of India vice-president Riyaz Ahmed Bhati told PTI.

What is even more amazing is that this is not the first time she has made historic achievements in the field of gymnastics. In 2014, she was the first Indian woman gymnast to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow that year, as well as the first Indian female gymnast to compete in the finals of the World Championships held in 2015. Perhaps the most admirable, apart from a position at the Olympics, is that Karmarkar is one of only five women to have successfully landed the famously difficult Produnova vault and even getting the top score.

“There can be death if you land on the neck, there’s death if you down headlong. It is risky, I know. But to win something, I always knew I had to take a risk,” Karmarkar had said in an interview with the Indian Express.

Another gymnast, Rakesh Patra, who has been selected for the upcoming Asian Games along with Karmakar, came fourth in Roman Rings finals after scoring 13.65. Karmakar and Patra were the only two Indians to participate in the World Challenge Cup series which is an important competition in the calendar of International Gymnastics Federation.

Gymnastics gets little attention in cricket-crazy India, but perhaps with Karmakar’s and Patra’s incredible achievements, other sports will finally get the attention and support they deserve – enabling others to showcase their talents and skills at such a coveted and prestigious international platform.

Feature Image Courtesy: India Today

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