Star gymnast Dipa Karmakar is more than just buoyed by her recent World triumph in the vault event at Turkey; stresses that she can't wait to compete with the best at next month's Asian Games in Jakarta
Dipa Karmakar
Dipa Karmakar became an overnight sensation when she narrowly missed claiming the bronze medal by 0.15 scoring points in the vault event final of the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil. However, less than a year after her encouraging, fourth-place finish in Rio, an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear on her right knee put Karmakar, 24, out of action. In April last year, she was forced to go under the knife.
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The Agartala girl's determination saw her storm back recently to win gold in the women's vault event at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Turkey. And while she soaks in the thrill of her Turkey show, her next challenge — the Jakarta Asian Games in August — is close at hand. Karmakar spoke to mid-day about her triumph in Turkey as well as her rehab and the risks involved in performing her favourite Produnova routine.
Excerpts:
How does it feel to be back to your winning ways?
More than elation, I feel a sense of relief. Any athlete will tell you that being out of action can be incredibly frustrating. What you want to do more than anything is be in your comfort zone and for me, comfort is competing on the mat.
Dipa Karmakar competes in the women's vault event final of the Artistic Gymnastics section during the 2016 Rio Olympics. Pics/AFP
You were expected to make a comeback at the Commonwealth Games in April, but pulled out at the last minute…
My coach, Bisweshwar Nandi Sir and I reached a consensus that nothing should jeopardise my recovery. That was the priority. My coach did not want to compromise on my recovery and therefore we had to give CWG 2018 a miss.
Many felt that you would even miss the Asian Games. How are your preparations coming along?
I have been preparing for the Games since the camp started in mid-May at Delhi. My preparations were slightly hampered by the long break, but when taken into perspective, I can also say that this break gave me time to freshen up and come back hungrier than ever. As for the Asian Games, my coach and my physio are making sure that I give my 100 per cent and I am back to training at the IG Stadium after the World Challenge Cup.
Tell us about your surgery and rehab?
For any athlete, it is difficult to recover from serious injuries. However, the support of my coach, family, physio, SAI, Ministry of Sports, GoSports Foundation and Dr Anant Joshi ensured that I was back to winning ways. During my recovery, it was also important to make sure that I didn't stress too much about getting back into competitive action. Perhaps, this is why Turkey was such a huge relief as the one thing I missed the most, during the recovery period, was competing against the best.
You still need some more time to get back to your favourite Produnova routine...
The Produnova is a move that requires tremendous technical ability and in my current condition it will be a risk. We have made a conscious decision not to put pressure on my knee. But that also means I can work on other aspects of my routine and make sure those are as close to perfection.
The most important part of training for the new vault sessions was keeping my mind focused and not thinking about getting injured again. It is an 80 per cent battle with your mind that you have to fight; you have to overcome those fears and that has been the focus while performing the Tsukahara.
What kind of inputs did you receive from your coach during the recovery phase?
During recovery, an athlete loses confidence. Sir made sure I was not too hard on myself and kept my spirits up. Also, when you are injured, you get time to anaylse your routine at a more micro level — watching lots of videos, analysing the field at the Asian Games etc. Sir helped me in those aspects.
You had posted a picture on Instagram of a practice session with Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff. What was that all about?
Not only is gymnastics a sport that involves almost every muscle in your body, it also pushes those muscles to their absolute limits. The sport is a fantastic means to build heightened flexibility, fitness and explosive power. Tiger is an actor, who plays roles that involve putting your body through a lot of duress. Moreover, he's also big on fitness and gymnastics is an interesting addition to anyone's fitness regimen.
Defending Asian Games champion in vault, Liu Jinru of China, Kim Su-jong and Pyon Rye-yong of North Korea are favourites at Jakarta. How do you see yourself competing against them?
In an international event, be it Olympics or Asian Games, the field is always going to be stacked with talent and it's going to be tough. But, I don't think I will be overly affected by their presence in the Asian Games as this is how any athlete would want it — to compete against the best at every single event. I see it as a unique opportunity. Yes, I've seen their routines and it goes without saying that each of those women are on a different level — technically very good and they are also used to competing under duress. It'll be tough, but I'm looking forward to competing at that level.
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