_2100_x_1470.webp "India's first female Olympian in gymnastics, Dipa Karmakar, quits at the age of 31.")
Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, a trailblazer who cracked several glass ceilings for Indian athletes, announced her retirement from the sport on Monday. Dipa was the first female gymnast from India to earn a spot in the Olympics, and she just missed winning a medal. She is one of just five women worldwide that are proficient in the Produnova vault. "After giving it some serious thought, I've made the decision to give up competitive gymnastics. Though it's not an easy choice, now seems to be the ideal moment.
When Karmakar, 31, qualified for Rio 2016, she became the first female gymnast from India to compete at the Olympics. Since the Tokyo Olympics in 1064, she was also the first Indian to compete in gymnastics overall in the Olympics. With a total score of 15.066, she finished fourth in the vault and just missed out on a bronze medal. Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland came in third with a score of 15.216, meaning that Karmakar was only 0.15 points away from taking home the medal.
Karmakar was banned for 21 months in October 2021 after failing a drug test. When she competed again the previous year, she took home the gold in the Tashkent Asian Championships in 2024. She described the victory as a "turning point" since she felt physically unable of pushing herself farther in the competition. "It was a turning point for me to win at the Asian Championships," Karmakar remarked. Because up until that point, I thought I could push my body, but sometimes your body signals that it's time to take a break. Despite my retirement, I will always have a link to gymastics. I want to give back to the sport by helping young ladies and serving as a coach or mentor," she continued. Karmakar recalls being informed when she was little that her flat feet prevented her from being a gymnast in an emotional social media post. "I'm proud of what I've accomplished today. Representing India at the international stage and earning gold and, most of all, completing the Produnova vault at the Rio Olympics has been the most important event of my career," she added.
