Dipa Karmakar creates history

The Indian has become the first ever Indian to qualify for the finals of World Gymnastics Championships.

Published : Oct 26, 2015 23:11 IST

Dipa Karmakar scored a total of 14.900 points in the women's vault qualification at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow.

Ace Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who became first woman gymnast and the second Indian to bag a bronze medal at the sixth Gymnastics Asian Championships in August, has recorded another history when on Sunday she went on to become the first ever Indian to qualify for the finals of World Gymnastics Championships.

Dipa, who hails from Tripura’s Agartala, scored a total of 14.900 points in the women's vault qualification at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, qualifying seventh in the eight-women finalists list. U.S.A's Simone Biles scored 15.633 to lead the list.

Dipa made headlines in 2014, when she went on to win the Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the same event, becoming the first Indian woman Gymnast to do so.

She was introduced to the sport by her father, Dulal, a weightlifting coach, despite the fact that she was afraid of falling. At the 2014 Asian Games, Dipa finished fourth behind Hong Un-jong, Oksana Chusovitina, and Phan Thị Hà Thanh. However, that did not demoralise Dipa. She said, “See, the two top girls here are the gold and silver medalists in the Olympics while the third girl was bronze winner at the world championships. So, I'm more than happy that I gave them a good fight and finished fourth here.”