Top Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar made history in the final qualifier of the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro as she produced a strong show, becoming the first ever Indian woman to qualify for the Olympics in gymnastics.
Her first vault, the difficult Produnova, gave Dipa 15.066 points, the highest among 14 competitors. But a poor show in the uneven bars took her points down as she collected 11.700, the second worse among the 14 participants.
The Tripura girl secured 13.366 and 12.566 points in beam and floor exercises. Gymnastic officials said that her Rio Games berth is more or less assured after her strong show.
The 22-year-old could not clinch an Olympic berth in the World Championships in November last year as she finished outside the podium (fifth place).
She was earlier put as second reserve for the ongoing Olympic Test event in Rio but was informed last month that she had sneaked into the shortlist of participants.
Dipa had earlier become the first woman gymnast to win a medal – a bronze – in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. She then became the first Indian woman gymnast to feature in the finals of World Championships last November.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)