Dipa KARMAKAR

India

Artistic Gymnastics

Games Participations1

First Olympic GamesRio 2016

Year of Birth1993

Social Media

Biography

In her bare feet, Dipa Karmakar may only stand 4 feet 11-inches tall - but the girl from Tripura is a figure of huge stature for Indian gymnastics.

At Rio 2016, Dipa Karmakar became the first woman gymnast to represent the country at an Olympic Games, and inspired many with her huge-hearted performances that left her a whisker away from stepping onto the podium.

Born with a flat foot, a postural deformity considered to be a big detriment for any gymnast, India’s very own ‘Small Wonder’ - as her biography is titled - has always battled to overcome the odds and defy expectations.

Karmakar started her formal training in gymnastics when she was just six. Despite having to train at inadequately-equipped gyms growing up, by the age of 14, she had won the Junior Nationals with her eyes firmly set on the international stage.

A part of India’s gymnastics contingent at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, a teenage Karmakar had a close-up view of Ashish Kumar's displays which captured India’s first-ever gymnastics medals at the Commonwealth Games.

From this point Karmakar began to earn a reputation not only as a vault specialist, but as someone able to successfully land the most renowned - and feared - vaults of all: the Produnova.

Also known as the ‘vault of death’, the Produnova is considered one of the most difficult moves to execute in gymnastics and involves a handspring followed by two and half somersaults.

The risk - and reward - comes because it takes such effort to gain sufficient height in order to land the vault cleanly.

Indeed, Dipa Karmakar is one of only five women ever to have executed it successfully, with the vault launching her onto the podium at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as she won bronze.

A stellar showing at the 2016 Olympic Gymnastics Test Event saw her book a berth to Rio and become the first female gymnast from India to qualify for the Games. It also marked the end of a 52-year-long wait for Indian participation in artistic gymnastics at the Olympics.

At the main event, Dipa Karmakar made the cut to the vault finals after finishing eighth in the qualifying rounds with 14.850 points after two attempts.

In the finals, competing alongside the likes of American superstar Simon Biles, Karmakar gave it her all once more.

On her second and final vault, the Indian decided to execute the Produnova once more, only just landing it cleanly with a deep squat but still managing to stand it up.

For her brave effort, Karmakar was awarded a score of 15.066, missing out on a medal by just 0.15 points and finishing fourth.

Her Olympic exploits saw her return home a hero, honoured with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award.

Since 2017, Dipa Karmakar was been battling recurring knee injuries, but when fit, the Agartala based gymnast was still a force to be reckoned with.

At the vault event at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup 2018 in Mersin, Turkey, Karmakar bagged a gold, following it up with a bronze in the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup 2018 in Germany. In the process, she also became the first Indian to win a gold medal at an international gymnastics event.

Dipa Karmakar also won gold in Vault at the Asian Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2024, becoming the first Indian to clinch top podium at the continental meet. However, it turned out to be her last international competition as the ace gymnast retired from the sport in October that year.