New Delhi: Dipa Karmakar, who became the first female gymnast representing India at the Olympics, announced her retirement from the sport on Monday. She made the announcement public through a statement, calling the decision to be one of the most difficult things. She has been a prominent figure in the gymnastics world and has professionally quit the competition after giving 25 years to the sport.
A major reason for her calling it quits was being unable to fulfill the physical demands of the sport on her body. Taking to her social media handles, she released a long statement with the caption – “Signing off from the mat! Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey. Onto the next chapter.”
“After much thought and reflection, I have decided to retire from competitive gymnastics. This is not an easy decision, but it feels like the right time. Gymnastics has been at the centre of my life for as long as I can remember, and I am grateful for every moment— the highs, the lows, and everything in between,” Dipa wrote.
Signing off from the mat! ❤️
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey.
Onto the next chapter🤸🏻♀️🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/kW5KQZLr29
— Dipa Karmakar (@DipaKarmakar) October 7, 2024
Achievements
Under the guidance of her coaches Soma Nandi and Bishweshar Nandi, 31-year-old Dipa achieved several milestones in her exceptional career. She clinched a bronze medal in the vault category at the Commonwealth Games as she became the first Indian woman to win in the gymnastic category. This performance was followed by another bronze medal at the Asian Championships in 2015.
However, her landmark achievement of her career arrived at the Rio Olympics 2016 when she became the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the Summer Olympics and bagged a fourth-place finish in the women’s vault, missing out on a medal by a whisker at the marquee event. The Agartala athlete was one of the only five female gymnasts in the world to successfully nail the Produnova vault. She gained international fame after performing a difficult move at the Olympics.
Her success in the event put the sports category into the spotlight, further popularising it, specially among budding gymnasts who aspire to reach the highest level of the sport.
How a promising career failed to live up to expectations?
Following her performance at the Rio Olympics, Dipa started facing significant challenges as she dealt with numerous injuries and surgeries. Despite all of the hardships, she registered a remarkable feat by winning a gold medal at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Turkey in 2018. There, she became the first gymnast from India to secure a gold medal at a global event. She continued her winning run at the 2019 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Cottbus as well where she bagged a bronze.
She continued facing several career setbacks in 2021 as well but showed great resilience by winning a gold medal at the Asian Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent. Even Dipa believed that her success in Tashkent would revive her career and would prove to be a turning point but she finally had to give in to the psyche demands of the sport, ultimately deciding to make the difficult choice of retirement.
Awards and accolades
Her illustrious career has seen her getting honoured with numerous coveted awards and recognitions. She was bestowed with the Padma Shri which is India’s fourth-highest civilian award. She also has an Arjuna Award to her credit for her outstanding achievements in sports and the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award as well, which is the country’s highest sports honour.
She was also featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list of Super Achievers which recognised her remarkable impact and accomplishments in the gymnastics world. Although she has called it quits from the sport, her passion remains alive. She is committed to inspiring and guiding the next generation of gymnasts, ready to share her wealth of experience to help them achieve all of their dreams.
A major highlight of Dipa’s career has been partaking in the 2016 Rio Olympics where she became one of the only five female gymnasts worldwide to successfully perform the the Produnova Vault. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
