22-year-old Dipa Karmakar scripts history yet again; becomes 1st Indian woman gymnast ever to qualify for Olympics

Twenty-two year old Dipa Karmakar’s name will go down in history as she became the first ever Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics.

Her strong performance at the qualifying game reserved her berth at the Rio Olympics.

Since Indian independence, 11 Indian male gymnasts have taken part in the Olympics and this will be the first for an Indian woman at the Olympics.

Moreover, she will also be an Indian gymnast qualifying for the quadrennial extravaganza after 52 long years.

"Following the Women's Qualification Competition at the Gymnastics Test Event in Rio, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) herewith confirms the list of nations and individual gymnasts that have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games," the International Federation of Gymnastics (Federation Internationale de Gymnastique) stated.

The Tripura girl secured 13.366 and 12.566 points in beam and floor exercises.

Deepak Kagra, an international referee, said that after Dipa's strong performance it was certain that she would qualify for Rio Olympics.
"It was a very good score from Dipa and we were certain that she would qualify. Now the world body has published the names of the gymnasts who have qualified for the Olympics and her name is there. The gymnastics community is proud of Dipa's achievements," he said.

Dipa had created history by becoming the first woman gymnast to win a medal -- a bronze -- in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. He then became the first Indian woman gymnast to feature in the finals of World Championships in November last.

(Image: Twitter)