NEW DELHI, July 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the
tributes Monday for woman gymnast Dipa Karmakar who bagged India’s first
ever gold medal in a global gymnastic event in Turkey.
Karmakar, who participated in her first international competition since
narrowly missing an Olympic medal in 2016, won the women’s vault at the FIG
Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Mersin on Sunday.
The 24-year-old had recovered from a career-threatening knee injury
suffered last year as her average score of 14.150 edged out Indonesia’s Rifda
Irfanaluthfi (13.400).
“More than the gold, what was important for me was to perform at the
optimum level. I am happy I could do that considering the fact at the
beginning of the year, I was hobbling back to fitness,” Karmakar was quoted
as saying by the Hindustan Times newspaper.
“Getting back into top gear makes me believe that my knee has healed
completely and I should now be able to go all out at the Asian Games,” she
added.
The Asian Games take place in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2.
Modi took to Twitter to congratulate the Indian athlete who missed the
Commonwealth Games in Australia this year due to her injury.
“India is proud of @DipaKarmakar!… This win is a prime example of her
tenacity and never-say-die attitude,” said Modi.
Sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, an Indian politician and a former
professional shooter who won silver in the 2004 Olympics, also praised the
champion gymnast.
“#DipaKarmakar is the stuff champions are made of! After battling an
injury for the past 2 yrs, she makes a heroic comeback by clinching her first
in the Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Turkey! Many Congratulations to her
for making proud!,” Rathore wrote on Twitter.
Karmakar though is still some distance away from the dangerous “Produnova
Vault” that got her bronze in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow,
Scotland.
Named after Russian gymnast Yelena Produnova, the “Vault of Death” as it
is nicknamed was first introduced in 1999, but is so dangerous some want it
banned.
It involves a handspring double-front somersault, and has one of the
highest degrees of difficulty rating a seven, but only a handful of gymnasts
have attempted it in competition.