By Paritosh Pramanik
Her’s is a story of fortitude. A story of how to return to glory after being down in dumps. A story of taking challenges with chin up and thrashing away all the obstacles to reach the ‘Everest’. She had fallen from the top only to rise much above the expectations of the country. Gymnast Dipa Karmakar etched her name in history books when she clinched the first ever gold medal for India at a global event at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Mersin, Turkey, last Sunday. The 24-year-old from Tirpura, who had finished fourth at the 2016 Rio Olympics, emerged triumphant in the vault event with 14.150 to bag the yellow metal.
Dipa’s journey since she was a six-year-old kid is splattered with difficulties. But the courageous and strong girl came out victors every time she had to climb the mountain of expectations from her coaches and admirers.
The flat-footed girl from Agartala put India on the world gymnastic map with her stellar performance in the Rio Olympics where she missed the bronze medal by a whisker.
Gymnastics was an unfamiliar sport for India until Dipa showed her prowess in the dangerous Produnova style—the Vault of Death at Olympics. The Indian girl mastered the art in the life-threatening style of gymnastics to force every Indian turn their eyes in awe during the Rio Games. Her achievement, despite out of the medal bracket, forced government to introduce a postal stamp in her name.
From being flat-footed gymnast to being number one in the country, Dipa has proved her doubters wrong on numerous occasions. The recent gold medal is more creditable as Dipa was returning from a career-threatening injury lay-off.
When all was going well for the Agartala girl after her Rio heroics, destiny made a cruel turn. Dipa suffered an Anetrior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury after Rio and had to undergo a surgery last April. That followed lengthy rehabilitation routine which kept her out of the sport nearly for a year. But she did not lose hope, despite being physically and mentally drained out.
People started talking about her decline. Some even said it’s the end of her career. But Dipa fought all odds. During those painful days, she had to fight twin battles, one from within and another with her doubters who were hell-bent to cut short her career with thoughts of negativity.
In a recent interview with PTI, Dipa recalled how nervous she got when she was undergoing rehabilitation.
“I was nervous because a lot happened in two years. Body changed. Difficulty levels also changed. It took a lot of mental and physical strength but I had no doubt about my comeback. A lot of people said it is extremely difficult for gymnasts to come back after surgery, some were saying I am finished since it was two years after Olympics. But I was ready to go through the surgery after I knew I had an ACL,” Dipa said after her gold winning performance.
For Dipa to make a comeback, she needed a strong willpower and support from her coaches. She kept motivating herself by reminding self of several successful comebacks by other sportspersons. She kept herself positive and never let pessimism creep in.
“There are other sportspersons who made successful comebacks. I tried to take it positively and due to the support of my coach, family, physio, SAI, Sports Ministry, GoSports I could make a comeback. I feel blessed that all celebrities supported me. They congratulated me. The last two years, I faced a lot of criticism with people saying I should give up and sit at home, and I am finished. So I am glad that I was not forgotten,” she was quoted as saying by the national news agency.
After spending more than a year in wilderness, Dipa worked hard to be fit for the April Gold Coast Commonwealth Games but she lacked fitness. The pain still persisted in her knees and she had to wait a little longer. That extended ‘break’ worked in Dipa’s favour when she took part in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Mersin, Turkey.
Participating in the Handspring 360 and Tsukuhara 720 with a difficulty level of 5.4 and 5.6, the former student of Abhoynagar Nazrul Smriti Vidyalaya, Agartala, Dipa accumulated a result of 14.100 and 14.150 respectively to
win gold.
Rifda Irfanaluthfi of Indonesia was a distant second with 13.400 points while Turkey’s Goksu Uctas took bronze with a score of 13.200.
The gold medal winning feat displays Dipa’s will to return to where she belong. She proved that willpower and desire to achieve goal can take one to the top.
Dipa, who is being coached by Soma Nandi and Bisweshwar Nandi since she was six, had finished fourth at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. A lot of water has passed under the bridge in last four years and Dipa has seen the highs of Olympics and lows of injury.
Dipa is back with a bang and she will be training her sight on the gold medal in Produnova, albeit not at the Jakarta Asian Games to be held next month.
It needs a lot of strength and training to perform Produnova for which Dipa still seems to be a bit short of fitness. She still feels pain in her knees while doing that in practice. But she has not lost hope of returning to performing her pet event.
With Asian Games round the corner and a tough competition expected from China, Japan and Korea, it was a wise decision by Dipa not to participate in Produnova event. However, she would see where she stands against the Asians giants in the upcoming Asian Games then prepare herself for future.
“Asian Games is very tough. China, Japan, Korea will pose a big challenge. I can’t guarantee a medal. But I will give my best. I realised where I lacked during the World Cup. I will work on those areas. In Asian Games I will have to score more, may be 14.2 or 14.3 will give me a chance to win a medal,” she told PTI.
Dipa has fought her way back with sheer grit. She overcame all hurdles which came her way in her short career. She is a fighter to the core. The flat-footed girl from Tripura has now scripted one of the most-talked comeback stories in the country. She will now be spearheading the artistic gymnastic Indian team at Jakarta Asian Games.
With strong mind and flexible body, Dipa is all set to tumble several more records.
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