Agartala (Tripura) [India], October 7 : Star Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar on Monday opened up on her retirement from gymnastics and said that her body was not allowing her to continue.
Earlier on Monday, Dipa took to her social media handle to announce her retirement from gymnastics.
{{{{twitter_post_id####}}}}Signing off from the mat! ❤️
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey.
Onto the next chapter🤸🏻♀️🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/kW5KQZLr29
— Dipa Karmakar (@DipaKarmakar) October 7, 2024
Speaking to ANI, Dipa said that she feels proud of her journey which she started from the age of five. She hoped that the upcoming gymnasts would bring Olympic medals to the nation.
"...When I go back 25 years, I feel proud of my journey which I started at just 5 years of age... Before the Asian Championships Gold last year, I was having a very down period... My body is not allowing me to continue because of frequent injuries. After this high performance at the Asian Championships, I decided to retire... I want the upcoming athletes to work hard and aim for an Olympic medal...," Dipa told ANI.
Dipa's coach Vishveshwar Nandi said it was the right time for her to retire from gymnast.
"Everybody in sports has to retire at some point or the other. This is Dipa's time to retire... In the Asian Championship held in Tashkent in May, she won a gold medal. This is a good opportunity for her to retire. She underwent two surgeries on her foot...," Vishveshwar said.
Dipa scripted her name in the history books after she clinched India's first-ever gold medal at the Asian Championships.
With an impressive total score of 13.566 in the women's vault final, Dipa took home a historic gold medal while South Korea's Kim Son Hyang secured silver and her compatriot Jyo Kyong Byal bagged the bronze.
The return of Dipa and her coach marks a moment of celebration and inspiration for aspiring athletes throughout India, as her success story continues to motivate the next generation of gymnasts
Karmakar is the first Indian gymnast to compete in the Olympics. The Tripura girl made history by finishing fourth in the women's vault final at the Rio Olympics 2016, missing the bronze medal by a whisker with a score of 15.066 points, only 0.150 less than bronze medal winner Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland.
Karmakar won bronze at the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow, becoming the first Indian female gymnast to do so in the history of the Games. She bagged bronze at the Asian Gymnastics Championships and finished fifth at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships- both firsts for the country.
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