The rise Dipa Karmakar to fame is a story of many years of practice. She grew to become India’s finest gymnast and later received the title ‘World Class Gymnast’ by the International Federation of Gymnastics. All of this in a span of just about a year-and-half. This shows her meteoric rise in the sport and for the sport in India.

Dipa will be the first Indian woman to represent the country in Gymnastics and she is also India’s brightest hope for a medal. Her successful execution of the Produnova sets her apart from the rest. It is indeed a risky manoeuvre to execute—a faulty landing can result in career threatening injury or even death—but definitely will play the difference maker in the final.

Qualification

Dipa qualified for the Olympics by scoring a total of 52.698 points and her fifth place finish at the Glasgow Gymnastics World Championship. Her show at Glasgow was pivotal in her receiving the title of “World Class Gymnast”. The Produnova was the key to her qualification for the Rio Games.

Earning the spotlight

Dipa Karmakar is an undisputed champion in the national circuit with numerous gold medals to her name. But her life really changed in 2014, when she qualified for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. And it became a further delight when her participation converted in a medal for the country. Since then she became a popular figure in the sport across the world for her brilliance and subtlety.

It was her Produnova once again that helped her win the bronze medal at Glasgow. And she became the first Indian female gymnast to win a medal. This was followed up with a string of impressive performances and practice for perfection.

It has been a good surprise for Dipa to be awarded the prestigious title of ‘World Class Gymnast’. The feat is a-once-in-career introduction among the gymnastics elite; it is common for gymnasts from Russia or United States but for an Indian, it is a whole new world.

Route to Rio

Relentless single minded focus for years pushed the girl from Tripura in receiving her ticket to Rio Olympics. She faced challenges from the federation politics, trouble in finding the right equipments and even the most difficult vault in artistic gymnastics and, she conquered them all.

Dipa missed the podium in Glasgow World Championships. But she won a bronze each at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and the Asian Championships in Hiroshima in 2015. However, her display at the Olympic test event that takes over all other, where she also won the gold.

Medal Quest

Dipa Karmakar’s Produnova is unquestionable but that is definitely not going to win her a medal by itself. Her rivals would have already taken note of her Produnova to determine tactics to counter its impact, adding more pressure on the youngster.

Banking on the risky manoeuvre might be her best shot but she has all the potential to surprise everyone, just like she did with the Produnova in 2014 Commonwealth Games.