Dipa – Tripura Girl Out for winning Gold at Tokyo Games 2020
Dipa Karmakar is one of the most celebrated names now in India and abroad. Well, I say abroad because this bong girl represented India at the Rio Olympics 2016. The tough battle that she fought against the other players demands commendable praise and of course respect. This woman excels at performing the death Vault or Produnova which is feared by most athletes. The Tripura girl missed the bronze by the slightest margin at the Olympic Games in Rio. But the feat of winning the title of the youngest athlete from India to qualify in this event against all odds was indeed commendable. The attribute that makes Dipa a celebrated name in the recent time is her excellence in a sport that is less identified or unidentified in the country that is predominantly oriented towards cricket.
The moment to hold the breath:
Learning the game and then performing it in the best possible way is what makes the girlfamous. With constant support and guidance from Coach Bishweswar Nandi, the girl continued her journey from the previous success to that of Rio Games in 2016. The moments she served the “death vault' was a constantly nervous one. “Before the event, I was very much nervous on how she will perform. This was the last chance for her to qualify and it wasn't easy. But Dipa was only half nervous. It was 50-50 and while she was nervous of her result, she was equally confident of her performance,” Nandi, the coach exclaimed. The girl gets the confidence from the other games that she played and won. The following are the performances we can refer:
- In 2014 Asian Games the girl finished at fourth.
- In 2014 Commonwealth Games Dipa became the first Indian female gymnast to win a medal.
- Asian Championships in Hiroshima – here she brought home with another bronze.
- Lastly, the girl reached the final round of the 2015 World Championships and finished fifth.
Dipa’s performance in the Rio Olympics:
Dipa was brave enough to attempt the most difficult Produnova vault which is also termed as the double frontal vault. The genre gave her 15.066 that is recorded as the highest among the 14 contestants in the RIO GAMES 2016. But fate brought her down in the uneven bars to 11,700 and took her final points down to 13.366 and 12.566 in bean and floor exercises. Dipa’s final score was 52.698. The girl stated “I learnt the double vault for three months before the 2014 Commonwealth Games; others do it for years before even trying it out in competition.”
Losing the medal at the slightest margin made the coach and Dipa sad but the coach- athlete duo are hoping to represent the country in the next Olympics, which is scheduled to be held in Tokyo 2020 when the athlete will turn 27.
Summary
In a country that is predominantly the house for the cricket fans, Dipa along with her coach Nandi took the risk of representing the country in the games of athletes in the Rio Olympic Games 2016. The girl served her best move in the produnova event that is considered to be the most difficult one.