Dipa Karmakar made history at the test events, the final Olympic qualifier, when she became the first female Indian gymnast ever to qualif...
Dipa's historic performance is being heavily celebrated in India. Her name is trending on Twitter with hashtag #DipaKarmakar.
She was congratulated on Twitter by a number of Indian celebrities like Abhishek Bachchan, Mandira Bedi, Sunny Deol and Ashwin Mushran.
She was also lauded by her native country's prime minister Narendra Modi "Dipa has made India proud and brought glory to its name. First time, a daughter from the country has been selected in gymnastics stream for the Rio Olympics. She has achieved the feat through her determination. Lack of resources never came in her way."
The Sports Authority of India has included her in the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme, the government's initiative to fund Olympic medal prospects in their preparations for the Games.
"Govt. increases entitlement for assistance for #DipaKarmakar: from 20 lakh to 30 lakh rupees #RioOlympics2016" tweeted Press Information Bureau, a nodal agency of the Government of India.
This is not the first time for Dipa to vault into history books. In 2014, She became the first Indian gymnast to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games, a bronze on vault. The following year, she became the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the finals of World Championships.
“If she decided she wanted something, she would just not rest easy till she got it, first National championship, then the India team, then the Commonwealth games, now Olympics qualification. I learnt very early not to take what she declares lightly. She won’t say something unless she’s sure in her mind she can achieve it,” her father said.
Karmakar is one of the few women who attempted and competed women's gymnastics' most difficult vault, the Produnova.
Written by Gigi Farid.
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