GLASGOW: Tears ran down her face while standing on the podium during the medal ceremony. A bronze is what Dipa Karmakar had won, but it was a historic one. That too in a sport she abhorred as a child. She won India’s first Commonwealth Games medal in women’s gymnastics (vault) through one of the most difficult routines – a double somersault off the vault and a perfect landing.
Gymnastics is one of the most exciting sports but at the same time, it can be tormenting for a performer. The moments before the judges reveal the scores is perhaps a torture that a gymnast has to live with. As Dipa stood watching her points on the giant screen after a not-so-good first attempt, her heart was racing. “Those moments were so painfully slow that for one moment, I felt as if I were going to die,” she said with a smile and tears in her eyes. “I knew I had a good vault, but seeing was believing. I hope this medal will inspire more athletes to join the sport.” She managed a modest 13.633 in vault one but her second attempt fetched her 15.100. The average of 14.366 helped her claim the bronze.
Four years ago in Delhi, too, she was seen crying. “But those were tears of sorrow,” she said. “I was shattered and cried more than what I did here. Then and there I vowed I would win a medal for my country.”
Hailing from Agartala in Tripura, Dipa was initiated into the sport by her father as early as a five-year-old. But she hated the sport then. Her father, Dulal Karmakar, is a weightlifting coach but he wanted her to be a gymnast. “Forget about winning a medal. When I started, I hated the sport,” she said. “I was five-and-a-half then. I used to drag myself to the hall everyday. But then, I met my coaches and because of them I started liking the sport. Now, I am addicted to it.” Dipa, like most gymnasts, has a fear of falling. “I had this fear that I could have a fall and get injured,” she said. “Eventually, I overcame it. But as for injury, even now I had a fall.”
Dipa was trained by BS Nandi and Kaplana Debnath in Agartala. “Her routine in the second vault was one of the toughest but she has managed it,” said Kalpana. “That shows how talented she is.”