If I won at my first Olympics, the drive to improve would be lost: Dipa Karmakar

Dipa Karmakar’s Rio Olympics odyssey was bittersweet. She did very well and won the hearts of millions. A 23-year-old girl from Tripura, doe-eyed and innocent, only 4 feet 11 inches and with the stout heart to do the Produnova again and again. Her fourth place finish was a victory of sorts. But she did not get the medal. Nerves of steel, yes. But no bronze medal. Karmakar did many interviews later. In most, she gave stock replies. But the wistfulness sometimes came through in conversations in her native language, Bengali.

“I am not in any rush to get back to India because I am going back empty-handed. I am kind of dreading it,” Karmakar told Reuters. “There has been a lot of sadness and pain over the past four days. If I had won a medal, then I would have been in a rush to go back [and show the medal to everyone].”

But she was also encouraged by her performance and realised that she was a trendsetter, even if she did not use the word. “I want to inspire the next generation so that in the next 10 to 15 years, India can send a full gymnastics team to an Olympics and not just one athlete,” Karmakar said.

At least one fellow gymnast seconds her optimism. “[Five-time Olympic champion] Nellie Kim told me that in 10 years, Indian gymnastics will be at the same level as the Chinese team,” Karmakar said.

The narrow miss in Rio has stoked the young gymnast’s competitive fires. “If I won a medal at my first Olympics, I would have lost the drive to improve even more,” she said. “My goal is that I can take a medal back for India at the next Olympics. I will try my hardest to achieve that.”


Bisweswar Nandi, the person who nurtured and mentored Dipa (Image: BCCL)

Karmakar’s disciplinarian coach Bisweswar Nandi will ensure that the focus of his earnest ward does not waver. He frowns upon extravagance and is not always happy with the praise and attention being lavished on her.

So far, Karmakar has been associated with the Produnova vault, the most hazardous routine in gymnastics, which can cause severe, life-threatening injuries. But Karmakar does not rule out having a move named after herself. “Every gymnast wants to invent a skill that will bear their name so that they leave behind a lasting legacy. I too have that dream,” she said. That ’s the mark of a trendsetter.