New Delhi: Gymnast Dipa Karmakar is recuperating from an anterior crucial ligament injury after surgery on April 2, but the Olympian has no plans of slowing down or retiring from the sport anytime soon.
“I am going through rehab and can only be competition ready after six months of surgery. Gymnastics is my life… and I can’t imagine myself without it. At the Rio Olympics we have a gymnast from Uzbekistan Oksana Chusovitina and she was the oldest among us, at 41. If she can perform at such age… so why not me,” Dipa said on the sidelines of Tata Tea jago re campaign here.
Dipa, who underwent the surgery in Mumbai after she was injured during practice, said she was better after the operation and hopeful of making a speedy recovery.
“Injuries are part of an athletes’ life. It is not a setback for me. There are so many athletes who go under the knife and bounce back with strong performances. Of course it is frustrating and challenging too,” the Agartala girl, who finished fourth in the vault final at the 2016 Rio Olympics, added.
Dipa has not participated in any competition after the Rio Games and is focusing on the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in 2018 and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
To miss world championships
The 23-year-old is camping at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here under the tutelage of her coach Bisweshwar Nandi. She will be skipping the World Championships in Montreal, Canada, this October after missing the Asian Championships earlier in the year.
“She has just started running and jogging and she will only start rigorous training in August and the gymnastics Worlds is in the first week of October. It will be tough for Dipa to give her 100 per cent there. So we have decided that we will skip the tournament,” Nandi told this paper.
“We could have taken Dipa to the World Championships but we want her to be in a position to win the event, we do not want her to just compete and after analysing her situation we came to the conclusion that she would not be fully fit to compete at the Worlds. We will aim to give her six months preparation time for the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games.”
Nandi said the top priority was to prepare for the 2020 Olympics and before that the 2018 CWG and the Asian Games.
“I do not think that the injury will affect her performance in the future. After reaching a particular level, this type of an injury is not a big deal for a sportsperson.
“Coming back after that is a challenge but then you also have to keep in mind that you can get injured in competition. Gymnastics is a dangerous sport at all times.”
