Photography: Tamanna Satsangi Concept & Styling: Sonam Oberoi Location: Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, Greater Noida
India’s Dipa Karmakar scripted history by winning the gold medal in the women’s vault apparatus at the Asian Gymnastics Championships 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
This is the first time that an Indian gymnast managed to win a gold medal in any event at the Asian Championships.
Previously, Indian gymnasts managed four medals, all bronze, at the continental championships. Dipa Karmakar herself accounted for one of these with a third-place finish in the women’s vault in 2015.
Women Fitness India gets in a candid with Dipa Karmakar as she shares her journey so far.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You are the first Indian female gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games and the first Indian gymnast to do so in 52 years. Share with us your journey in the world of sports. How did it all start? Girls have to overcome several obstacles both on personal & sports levels until they achieve recognition, do you share some moments of struggle to serve as an inspiration for others?
Ms. Dipa Karmakar:
The journey of a woman coming from a small town and playing a sport that no one knows about is always a hard one. It all started at the age of five. At that age, I did not have goals or dreams to become a gymnast, I think I was too young to decide that. In 2007, Nandi sir saw the potential in me and that’s when we decided that I should give gymnastics a shot. In 2008, I won my first junior Nationals in Jalpaiguri and the rest is history.
As a woman, the challenge is much tougher owing to various misconceptions prevalent in society and this tends to be very personal and will differ from family to family. From a sporting point of view, more and more women are taking up sports and wanting to compete at a good level but there exists a dearth of women coaches, and girls also have issues when it comes to accessing good infrastructure i.e. a situation where a girl has to travel long distances to get to the training facility, but this can be risky for her to travel alone. But here, I would also like to add that women are as motivated, if not more than the men and we deserve our chances and the support. If recent performances at major sporting events are to go by, women are doing better than men. My hope is that this is proof of what sportswomen are capable of provided they get the right backing.
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President womenfitness.org and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
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