New Delhi: Dipa Karmakar, a young woman from Tripura, on April 18 created history by bagging the gold in vaults finals at the test event of the Rio Games. The victory came hours after she became the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics.
A day later, the 22-year-old woman got a shout-out from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Just yesterday, a daughter of India brought fame to the country at the Rio Olympics,” the premier said in a speech to students at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in Jammu.
Dipa won the gold in the first attempt after scoring 14.566 in her second and last try in the women’s vaults finals. Dipa scored a total of 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifier event to get a place as an artistic gymnast in the Rio Olympics in August.
Dipa, who has won many laurels and medals for India, has made the country proud by raising the Tricolor in the most prestigious international tournament.