Say hello to Dipa Karmakar! She’s the incredible gymnast breaking new ground in India by qualifying for the Olympics.
Surprised that there has never been a female Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics?
(My reaction exactly.)
Totaling a score of 52.698 points in an Olympic test event, Dipa qualified for the Olympics and she will be officially competing in August at the Rio Games.
(For the non-athletically inclined people like myself, that is an INCREDIBLE score and an INCREDIBLE achievement!)
Since India gained independence, it has struggled to keep up with gymnastics in the Olympic games. There have been a total of 11 Indian male gymnasts--two in 1952, three in 1956, and six in 1964--but never before has a female gymnast made it this far. Females in India are discouraged from playing sports and many are forced into early marriages that cut them off from opportunity.
However, there has been a recent rise female athletes that’s challenging the role of gender in sports and redefining what is and isn’t possible for women.
Dipa Karmakar qualified for the prestigious international games by landing the Produnova, one of the most dangerous vaults in the gymnastics world. To make this even more impressive, she landed the move with an ankle injury. AND she received the highest score on a Produnova in the world. Uh #nbd.
While gymnasts make the sport look majestic and effortless, the Produnova land demonstrates how strength and courage are two ingredients needed for for a perfect land.
The risky move involves running towards a big gymnastic spring and jumping onto it. The jump is a bit complicated, as it blocks the participant’s hands and forces the gymnast into a vulnerable position. Sounds scary? And it doesn’t even end there. The participant then swings her or his legs into two somersaults during flight, and finally, the landing.
The finale, or the landing, is even more dangerous because it can break a person’s neck and cause spinal injuries if unbalanced.
Dipa knows this and chooses to push past her fears and win something for her, her family, and India.
Her gymnastics career began at the age of 6, when she trained with her dad who is a weightlifting coach and previously served as a trainer for athletes in the Andaman Islands. Training was even more challenging because she grew up with flat feet!
Dipa’s gymnastics career has flourished since then. In 2014, Dipa won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She then moved on to become the first Indian woman gymnast featured in the finals of the World Championships in last November.
Throughout her life she’s been determined to break barriers. This summer, the world will be watching as she tries to break the next barrier in her path!
Looking at Dipa’s smile and witnessing her incredible spirit for sports, it's that Dipa is more than a gameplayer, she’s a gamechanger.
Check out what Dipa has to say:
When Dipa Karmakar competed in her first gymnastics competition, she did so without shoes and borrowed an... https://t.co/Yw6Lu7jPga
— tyagaraju mr (@tyagaraju) April 18, 2016