Day after her Rio feat, Dipa Karmakar faces another test: MA exams

“It hasn’t been easy for her. Initially, we didn’t have the equipment. She practised on discarded second-hand equipment. The first vault she practised on was made using the parts of an old scooter. The Sports Authority of India had rejected her and told her that she’d never be a gymnast because she was born with flat feet. With each medal that she won, her resolve grew stronger. She refused to take ‘no’ for an answer,” said Dulal.

Dipa’s father, a weightlifting coach, had recognised her innate talent early and encouraged her to become a gymnast. He enrolled her at the Vivekananda Byamagar — Agartala’s oldest gymnasium — where he continues to coach. Every day, she used to ride with her father to the poorly equipped gymnasium, where she started learning the fundamentals of gymnastics at the age of six.

The turning point came at the age of eight, when she bagged a gold medal on the balancing beam in the Northeastern Games Competition in 2002. “She didn’t always like gymnastics before that. The practice was hard and she was a child, after all. But after 2002, she became addicted to winning,” said her mother, Gauri Karmakar.

After her success in 2002, the Tripura Sports Council recommended her to Bishweshwar Nandi, five-time National champion and a legendary Tripura-based gymnast. Under his tutelage, Dipa’s training began in earnest. She moved on to advanced training in 2001 at the Netaji Subhash Regional Coaching Centre (NSRC). But that was when the first major stumbling block came her way.

“She had flat feet, we realised. SAI had spotted her and she topped all examinations. But the doctors said her feet would stop her from becoming a world-class gymnast. I asked her coach and he laughed at me. I trusted him and today, the results are there for the world to see,” said Gauri.

Dipa Karmakar performs the Produnova vault to become the first Indian to enter the gymnastics final. (Source: Reuters)

Dipa had unveiled the Produnova — a death-defying vault that only a few before her had even attempted — at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. Since then, every time she runs towards the vault, the nation watches with bated breath. But not her parents. The Produnova, they say, didn’t happen in a day.

“Before Glasgow, her coach suggested that she try it and then she practised, every day, multiple times. Yes, it is risky. But she knows what she’s doing and we have faith in her own understanding of her abilities,” said her father.

Since her bronze medal in Glasgow, Dipa has become a celebrity in Tripura. She often arrives at the Agartala airport to a sea of well-wishers, and the state government arranges for an open jeep to take her home. But her parents like to maintain their distance from the buzz. “People love her and they should. But when she comes back home, she is still my little daughter. Nothing has changed for me,” said her mother.

There is no denying, though, that things have changed. Gone are the days of second-hand equipment, practising the Produnova on soiled mattresses. When Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar found that the lack of a foam pit had forced Dipa to travel to Delhi to practice, he ordered for the immediate construction of a foam pit. Financial support from SAI and new equipment have now been provided.

But what hasn’t changed, says her father, is his daughter’s focus. “Right now, she’s doing her MA (political science). She has her semester examinations on the day after she returns from Rio. Before going to Rio, she asked me to collect notes for the exams. After the Olympics, she’s going to sit and study,” he said.