Olympian Gymnast Dipa Karmakar retires from sport

Olympian and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Dipa Karmakar has announced her retirement from Gymnastics. Dipa Karmakar, nicknamed ‘Small Wonder,’ was the first female Indian gymnast to establish India’s name at the international level in the sport.

Born in Agartala, Tripura, Dipa Karmakar has flat feet, which is considered a big disadvantage in gymnastics. However, with sheer determination and talent, Dipa became the most successful Indian gymnast. 

First Indian female Gymnast to participate in Olympics

• Dipa Karmakar is the first Indian female gymnast to compete in a Summer Olympics. She narrowly missed a medal at the vault event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. 
• She is amongst the few gymnasts in the world who have successfully landed the famous Produnova vault, which she performed at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• She also has the distinction of being the first Indian woman to win a gymnastics medal at the Commonwealth Games. She won a bronze medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
• Dipa Karmakar is the first Indian to win a gold medal at an international gymnastics event. She won a gold medal in the women’s vault at the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Mersin, Turkiye.
• In 2018, she also won a bronze medal at the World Cup in Cottbus, Germany.
• Dipa Karmakar  became the first indian women gymnast to win a gold medal in the
• Asian Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She won a gold medal in the Vault event at the 2024 Asian Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Awards and Biography 

• Dipa Karmakar was honoured with India’s fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri in  2017.
• In 2016, she was awarded the country’s highest sports award, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (then the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award).
• In 2015 ,Dipa Karmakar was awarded the Arjuna Award.

Biography of Dipa Karmakar

Dipa Karmakar: The Small Wonder", co-authored by Digvijay Singh Deo, Vimal Mohan and Dipa Karmakar  Coach, Bishweshwar Nandi.