For an athlete who is only one of five people to have successfully executed the Produnova, also known as the “Vault Of Death”, no task can be too daunting. Not even coming back to competition after a career-threatening knee-injury that kept you out for almost two years.
Dipa Karmakar, who underwent an ACL surgery months after her best performance at the Rio Olympics, won a gold in her first competition back with a fearless and gritty performance. And this creditable mental strength, that has not only pulled her through a difficult injury layoff but also propelled her towards a gold medal, was evident when she spoke about making a return.
Ask her if she had any nerves or hesitation before taking the plunge in an international competition after such a long break, and she dismisses the notion: She was confident that she would give her best. And her best was India’s first ever gold at a gymnastics World Cup.
“It was a good competition for me,” Karmakar told Scroll.in on the sidelines of a send-off function organised for Asian Games-bound athletes by the Indian Olympic Association and Edelweiss. “Actually, this is the first World Challenge Cup medal for me as well, and this is India’s first gold medal in the gymnastics World Cup as well.”
She added, “I had practiced beforehand, I was confident and I knew that I had to give it my all. The result will be what it will be, but I had to do my best even though it has been a while since my last competition.”
The 24-year-old gymnast won gold at the Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey. She opted for the Handspring 360 and Tsukuhara 720 vaults, scoring 14.150 to top the podium. She had topped the qualification as well, recording a score of 13.400.
At the same time, she rued the missed chance for another medal. She had also qualified in balance beam finals by finishing third in the qualification with a score of 11.850, but just missed out on the bronze in the final.
“I had hopes for one more medal there, I came fourth in the balance beam. Once again, the medal was lost by one point,” she said.
Focused on Asian Games
Despite losing out on a second medal, her gold is a momentous achievement in itself, considering she had to miss the Asian Championship, World Championship in Canada as well as the 2018 Commonwealth Games as she completed the long rehab to get back in shape following the surgery.
This was obviously a difficult time for her, but the girl from Tripura learnt to take it all in her stride. “Yes, I was upset but then everything can’t go right all the time, sometimes bad things happen,” she said. “It is something that happens to all sportspersons, whether it is injury or form.
“I missed three to four competitions, including the World Championship. When the team used to leave for these events, I was feeling low but I knew I would make a comeback,” she added.
What did she tell herself in these moments? “I have to return to the sport, I will make a comeback and I have to try to be there again.”
Even when she was away from competition, she wasn’t away from the sport. She was at the camp and did her rehab when others were training.
“After the long gap I was focusing on recovery,” she said. “I was still training, if not always with the apparatus. Mentally as well, I was working on it. I had a lot of support from my surgeon Dr Anant Joshi, my physios and psychologist and, of course, my coach [Bishweshwar Nandi]. All of them kept me motivated throughout.”
The big test for the gymnast, though, will be the Asian Games starting from August 18 in Indonesia. Karmakar has already shown her class when she topped the Asiad trials in Delhi – technically her first competition since the injury – ahead of Pranati Das, Aruna Reddy, Mandira Chowdhury and Pranati Nayak, all of whom have also made the Asian Games squad.
But the actual event will be a lot more competitive. “The Asian Games are very tough, especially in gymnastics where China, Japan, Korea will compete and we have Oksana Chusovitina as well. If you see the Olympics, at least six of the top eight are from Asian countries so after the Olympics, the Asian Games is the next biggest. So I will give it my best, but it will depend on the day as well,” Karmakar said.
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