“This performance was all the more important because I wanted to prove Dipa Karmakar abhi bhi zinda hai (Dipa Karmakar is still alive).”
Even if it was not accentuated, highlighted and amplified, one could tell that Dipa Karmakar was, indeed, feeling ‘alive’ from the enthusiasm in her tone. As if, lifted off her back was no mere monkey, but a monster – one that had been brooding and growing over the last five years.
The miraculous concoction responsible for making her feel alive, again, was three medals. Competing at the Artistic Gymnastics Senior National Championships after eight years, Dipa – the gymnast from Tripura who essentially popularised the sport in India – won an all-around gold with a score of 49.55, a vault silver with a score of 13.40, and an uneven bars silver with a score of 10.65.
Elaborating on the magnitude of her performance in Bhubaneshwar, she tells The Quint:
I can’t tell you how happy I am. I competed at the Senior Nationals after eight long years. I had plenty of lows during that period, but I came back with a score no one had been able to achieve in those eight years. It was thoroughly satisfying to return to the level I belong to.Dipa Karmakar
Beyond everything else, Dipa cherishes the exposure she has been receiving since the competition, as she adds “I was working hard in training, but I was not getting any exposure at all. I topped the Asian Games trials, but could not compete because of certain criteria. So, it was necessary to have that exposure.”
The Asian Games Snub After Topping Trails
Had the interview been conducted in August 2023, the tonality might not have been as vivacious. For, despite topping the trials for the 2023 Asian Games, Dipa was not allowed to board the flight to Hangzhou, China.
Why?
Because of a selection criterion, which required every Indian athlete going to the Asian Games to record, in the last 12 months, a score better than the eighth-placed athlete of that event at the 2018 Asian Games.
A criterion she did not fulfil, having recently served her doping suspension. Or, alternatively, a criterion she had no information about.
Main bahut zyada toot chuki thi uske baad (The Asian Games non-selection had a devastating effect on me). Even if I had been made aware of the selection criteria just two days before the trials, I would have prepared accordingly. But I had no information about the rule.Dipa Karmakar
Mentioning what propelled her from heartbreak to the podium, all in the span of five months, Dipa adds “My coach Bishweswar Nandi and my team were my pillars of support during this phase. They motivated me to not give up. I have had two ACL injuries, a meniscus injury, an ankle injury, but I never gave up. I was determined to make a comeback.”
A Meteoric Rise Curbed by Injuries
Then only 20 years of age, Dipa Karmakar’s first shot at fame was at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she won a bronze medal in Glasgow. A year later, she enriched her tally with an Asian Championships bronze.
Even after those two medals, the nation’s severed ties with the sport were not immaculately mended. That is, until, she qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics – becoming the first female Indian gymnast to do so.
Her medals tally does not feature an Olympic medal, but to the nation in 2016, it could not have meant any less than it did. A hair’s width, which can also be referred to as 0.15 points, is what cost her a bronze medal, eventually finishing fourth. But her performance, and in particular, the Produnova vault – also called the ‘vault of death’ – earned her acclaim.
The optimists said medals were inevitable in the future. The sceptics were worried about injuries. The latter won.
Dipa sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in 2017, and since then, has endured numerous injuries, which she puts down to misfortune, saying “I feel injuries are all down to luck. Especially in our sport, you can pick up an injury during a simple gym session. I have been a bit unlucky in this regard, because the injuries occurred when I was at my peak. I was also attempting the most difficult of vaults at that time.”
‘Have there been any changes to your game after the injuries?’ we asked.
She explains:
Of course, changes are bound to be there. I could practice freely before my injuries, but now, I have to be very careful about my knee. At the back of my mind, I am always thinking ‘Kahin phirse na ho jaaye’ (‘I shouldn’t get injured again’).Dipa Karmakar
Despite a Glorious Comeback, Dipa Stares at an Uncertain Future
After innumerable injuries and a doping suspension – about which she said she was unaware “how the substances entered” her body – Dipa claims “I can happily confirm I am one hundred per cent fit now, so I feel I can win one or two international medals for my country in the upcoming events.”
Yet, she adds a concerning postscript:
“Agar wo humein bheje toh (Only if they send me to the competitions).”
Despite the 2024 Paris Olympics being only six months away, Dipa states there is no clarity from the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) about participation in upcoming competitions.
"We don’t have many competitions left, there are just the Asian Championships and four World Cups. First and foremost, we must be told if we are at all going to compete in those, and what the selection criteria is. But from my end, I am training very hard, so that I can be ready if I am selected for those competitions," she says.
An appeal follows.
I want to make an appeal – please conduct national camps. Systematic training will result in a significant performance hike among everyone. We only have a few months before the Olympics, please organise a camp. I can tell you with certainty that if we organise a camp, at least one gymnast will qualify for the Paris Olympics from the Asian Championships.Dipa Karmakar
Best, at the Last Lap
Dipa’s all-around score in Rio was 51.665 – a figure currently seeming to be a tad too steep, now that she is in her thirties.
But on being asked about if she can ever match that score again, the response is not a defeatist one.
I can’t say I will match that score for certain, because anything is possible in sports. All I can promise is that I am striving to give my best in the upcoming competitions. I am not thinking about injuries at all. Hoga to hoga, dekh lenge, but apna best denge (Even if I get injured, so be it, but I will give my best).Dipa Karmakar
No Regrets, Cause ‘That’s Life’
For all she contributed towards Indian gymnastics, one might not be in the wrong to claim Dipa Karmakar did not get the recognition she deserves. The gymnast, albeit, does not feel so.
I don’t have any grudges against anyone, I am thankful for whatever recognition I have got. Even after not doing much for the last five-six years, people still talk about me, which is a huge honour. I want to repay them by making gymnastics popular again in India.Dipa Karmakar
Before wrapping the interview, Dipa’s concluding statement – perhaps characteristic of her mould – is not about her ambitions, but instead, a life lesson to the young gymnasts who are now looking up to her.
“My only advice to them is to never accept defeat. Come whatever may, just face it, don’t run away. Saamna karna hai, kyunki yahin zindagi hai (We need to face obstacles because that’s life)," she signs off.
Perhaps, indeed, that’s life.
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