Dipa Karmakar becomes first-ever Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics

Arun S Kaimal

ByArun S Kaimal, SportsCafe Editor

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Dipa Karmakar created history on Sunday to become the first ever Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics. The 22-year old garnered a total of 52.698 points to finish 19th in the top 29 to vault into history books. Dipa had earlier finished fifth in the World Championships last October.

The Tripura lass produced a stunning 15.066 points in her first vault, the highest among 14 competitors. But a poor showing in the uneven bars took her sliding down the table, as she collected only 11.700 points, the second worst among the 14 participants. She recovered well and secured 13.366 and 12.566 points in beam and floor exercises to be assured of the berth.

Dipa had earlier missed out an Olympic spot after finishing fifth in the World Championships at Glasgow in October last year. Although she was initially in the reverse list for the gymnastics Olympics Test event, she found herself in the shortlist with 40-odd other gymnasts in March.

Speaking to the Indian express last week, the Asian championships bronze medallist had expressed her hope of qualifying for the quadrennial event. 

“I am 90 percent certain I’ll be able to qualify, but what’s for sure is that my basics of gymnastics, all that I’ve learnt on every apparatus will be tested at Rio. It won’t be just one aspect – the vault. It’ll be a test of my all-round capability,” Dipa had said.

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