Gymnastics
Dipa Karmakar eyes Paris Olympic quota spot after clinching national title
After topping the women's all-round event at the senior nationals, Dipa has set her eyes on the World Cup and Asian Championships to win a quota spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Gymnast Dipa Karmakar looks forward to participating in her second Olympics in Paris.
Dipa Karmakar has recently made a podium finish, ending more than a two-year wait for a podium finish. The star gymnast battled a knee injury, requiring surgeries, and then dealt with a suspension followed by a controversial expulsion from India's Asian Games contingent despite topping the trials.
Dipa, who famously finished fourth at the Rio Olympics in 2016, now regained her confidence after claiming the national title at the Artistic Gymnastics National Championships.
The Tripura gymnast, competing at the nationals for the first time since 2015, topped the all-around event and tallied a total of 49.55 points. She also won clinched silver in both women’s vault and uneven bars individual apparatus events.
The 30-year-old has now set her eyes on qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Dipa failed to qualify for the Covid-19 pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
"It is just the start of the year and I want to compete in the Asian Championships and World Cup and see I can qualify for the Paris," she said.
Dipa, who emerged as the face of Indian gymnastics since her remarkable performance in Rio, is also happy being able to perform without much difficulty at the recently held nationals in Bhubaneswar.
"I am happy that I was able to perform the routines without difficulty. Even to reach this level was difficult after two sugeries," said Dipa.
"I was not sure whether I would be able to do such routines again. I have put so much hard work with my coach to be able to just start competing again," she added.
