Anand Mahindra Gives A Special Shout Out To Dipa Karmakar For Historic Gold At Asian Championships

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar made history at the recently concluded 2024 Asian Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships by winning gold at the women’s vault apparatus. With this, she became the first Indian gymnast to win a gold medal in any event at the Asian Championships. Karmakar secured the top spot by closely landing ahead of North Korea’s Kim Son-hyang. With her historic win, several notable personalities showered praises on Karmakar. Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra Group, also congratulated her on X (Formerly Twitter).

In an X post, Mahindra shared a photo from the Asian Gymnastics Championships’s medal ceremony and wrote, “And more Monday Motivation. Just back in March, Dipa Karmakar was talking about her injury & the hurdles she had to cross. It was the love for the sport, she said, which kept her going. And yesterday she became the first indian gymnast to win at the prestigious Asian championship, topping the podium in women’s vault. Keep Rising, Dipa.”

Following her win, Karmakar shared snippets from her Asian Gymnastics Championships and wrote, “In 2019, my participation in the World Cup in Baku had led to a career-threatening injury. Post which, there were many battles fought and many hurdles crossed. However, the love for the sport never deterred me.”

Karmakar’s gold comes after a number of struggles such as two knee surgeries and a 21-month suspension for a doping violation. In October 2021, Karmakar was found in violation of doping by the World Anti-Doping Agency. She tested positive for higenamine, a substance which is found in dietary supplements. Karmakar had claimed that she unknowingly ingested the banned substance.

After Sunday’s win, Karmakar marks her comeback on the world stage. While speaking to The Hindu, the 30-year-old gymnast said, “I can’t say how happy I am. This performance has come after surgeries and suspension. No other Indian gymnast has done this. So, this medal is really special. I must thank (my coach Bishweshwar) Nandi sir. He has been with me through all my difficult times.”

Karmakar has many records in her kitty. She put Indian gymnasts on the world map by becoming the first Indian female gymnast to compete at the Olympics. In the 2016 Olympics, she secured fourth spot, just one shy away from the medal. In 2018, she won gold at the 2018 FIG World Cup in Mersin, Turkiye, and became the first Indian to ever win a gold medal at a global gymnastics event.