NEW DELHI: India’s Olympics gymnast, Deepa Karmakar on Sunday became the first Indian gymnast to win a gold medal in the Asian Gymnastics Championships 2024. She won the coveted gold medal in the women’s vault event being organized in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
A fourth position holder at the 2016 Rio Olympics, edged past North Koreans Kim Son Hyang (13.466) and Jo Kyong Byol (12.966) with a score of 13.
566 on the final day of competitions in Uzbekistan’s capital city.
The sportsperson from Tripura was elated after achieving this feat. She said, “I’ve no words to express my feelings at the moment.”
Many congratulated Dipa Karmakar on her historic gold. The Sports Authority of India in a tweet on X said, “History created at The Asian Gymnastics Championships. Inspirational, Dipa! Congratulations on the #Gold.”
History created at The Asian Gymnastics Championship 🇺🇿🥳
Dipa Karmakar becomes the 1⃣st 🇮🇳 gymnast to win🥇at this prestigious championship, topping the podium in women’s vault.
Earlier, her best performance at the event was when she gave us a🥉in 2015!
Inspirational, Dipa!… pic.twitter.com/nNV1nTqYdT
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) May 26, 2024
Earlier, Dipa won a bronze at the 2015 edition in Hiroshima, Japan, which was also a first for an Indian woman gymnast. However, she recently finished 16th in the Olympic Qualifiers and failed to secure a quota for the country.
Before the historic gold, the Indian gymnasts had won four bronze medals at the Asian Gymnastics Championships. While Ashish Kumar won a bronze in men’s floor exercise in 2006, Pranati Nayak won two bronze medals in women’s vault in 2019 and 2022.
It’s been a long journey but we are finally here. Grateful. 🥇🙏🏽 🇮🇳#AsianGymnasticsChampionship pic.twitter.com/IDlsQP7bA6
— Dipa Karmakar (@DipaKarmakar) May 26, 2024
Deepa Karmakar has in recent times faced setbacks in career due to recent injuries and a doping charge. But, she made a comeback last year after finishing her 21 months suspension in an alleged doping violation. She also topped the trials for the Asian Games.
Karmakar in the 2016 Rio Olympics went on to become only the fifth woman in the history of gymnastics to land the Produnova Vault. Until Simone Biles’ vault was added, Produnova Vault was the hardest vault performed in women’s artistic gymnastics.