Dipa Karmakar determined to do well at Rio
With less than 100 days left for the Olympics, Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar hopes to better her score of 15.1 in the vault to achieve a podium finish. The 22-year old became the first-ever Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics after her good show in the test event at Rio last week.
“I was determined to earn an Olympic quota place in the Rio test event after missing it narrowly in the World championship last year. I had to qualify this time. I had this target in mind and I did some hard training under the guidance of my coach.
“Right now I am focused on doing well in the Olympics. I can achieve a better score. I will train hard and do my best to get there…I have to work on my execution,” Dipa told The Hindu on Wednesday during a felicitation function organised by the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club (CSJC).
The Commonwealth Games and Asian Championship bronze medallist secured her place in the quadrennial event last week after garnering a total of 52.698 points to finish 19th in the gymnastics Olympics Test event at Rio.
Although
“Since we have 100 days, there is a very good chance that she can improve her score. We will do our best so that she rectifies her mistakes and performs better.
“She can go up to 15.7 or 15.8 in
However, Dipa chose to downplay her chances at the Rio Olympics and was modest about her chances in the vault.
“There are several top gymnasts. They did not come to the test event because they had already qualified for the Olympics. My aim is to go out and give my best performance,” said Agartala-based Dipa.