My Target is to Win the Gold Medal in 2020 Olympics: Dipa Karmakar

Dipa Karmakar said that she’s not disappointed about missing out on a historic bronze in the vault final at Rio.

Dipa Karmakar. (Photo: AP)

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar said that she’s not disappointed about missing out on a historic bronze in the vault final of the Rio Olympics and that she’s satisfied with her performance.

I never expected a medal from this Olympics but to have come fourth is very creditable. In boxing, wrestling you get a bronze even when you finish fourth but not for me. It was very close to medal. After four years, my target would be gold. For me this is my first Olympics. But I don’t need to be disappointed I will give my best in Tokyo 2020. I’m fully satisfied with my performance. This is my highest score. But the medalists were better than me.

Dipa Karmakar

Dipa Karmakar takes her run-up ahead of performing her vault. (Photo: AP)

“Maybe, it was not my day. It’s my bad luck that I missed the bronze medal by a few points. But no problem, I never expected this fourth place finish in my first Olympics,” said Karmakar.

The 23-year-old Dipa, who had become the first Indian woman gymnast to have qualified for the Olympics, scored an average of 15.066 points, a mere 0.15 less than the eventual bronze winner Giulia Steingruber (15.216) of Switzerland.

Dipa in action during women’s individual vault finals. (Photo: AP)

The gold went to American pre-event favourite Simone Biles (15.966) while reigning vault world champion Maria Paseka of Russia got the silver with an average of 15.253 points.

Dipa could have been in the reckoning for a medal had she not landed on her haunches in her risky ‘Produnova’ vault for which she is now known all over the world. Dipa landed on her feet but then sat down and lost points.