Specials

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar and her coach Bisweshwar Nandi, who returned to India yesterday following their successful stint at the 2016 Rio Olympics, speak exclusively to NDTV. Dipa narrowly missed a medal after finishing fourth in the vault final but captured the imagination of the world by performing the 'Produnova'. Her coach revealed that Dipa did more than 1,000 'Death Vaults' in preparation for the Rio Games. Here are the highlights: • Happy about my score in final, but a little upset that I finished fourth: Dipa Karmakar • My aim is to reach the podium in the next Olympics (2020 Tokyo Games): Dipa Karmakar • My mother fears watching me perform gymnastics: Dipa Karmakar • I started practising 3-4 months before Olympics. Will practise for a year for next Olympics • Sachin Tendulkar is my favourite sportsperson: Dipa Karmakar • The more you practice, the more you will become better: Dipa Karmakar • Support from a lot people, including SAI and state government has helped me achieve this feat: Dipa Karmakar • People's mindset has now changed towards gymnastics: Dipa Karmakar • Gymnast Ashish Kumar's performance in 2010 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games was a huge inspiration for me: Dipa Karmakar • Dipa practiced more than 1,000 'Produnova' (considered a death vault, practiced by a few handful gymnasts in the world) vaults in three months: Dipa Karmakar's coach Bisweshwar Nandi • Gymnasts from other countries practice for a year before Olympics, we practiced for just three months: Dipa Karmakar's coach