Dipa Karmakar becomes first Indian gymnast to win gold in Asian Senior Championships

By: Aditya Ahuja

Leading gymnast Dipa Karmakar made history on Sunday by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Asian Senior Championships, clinching the title in the women’s vault.

Competing in Uzbekistan’s capital, the 30-year-old Dipa achieved an average score of 13.566 in the vault final on the competition’s last day. North Korean gymnasts Kim Son Hyang and Jo Kyong Byol secured the silver and bronze medals with scores of 13.466 and 12.966, respectively.

Dipa, who narrowly missed a medal with a fourth-place finish in the vault final at the 2016 Rio Olympics, had previously won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2015 Asian Championships. Ashish Kumar had also won a bronze medal in the individual floor exercise at the 2015 Asian Championships.

Earlier on Friday, Dipa Karmakar competed in the all-around category in Tashkent, finishing 16th with a score of 46.166, just falling short of earning an Olympic quota for India in gymnastics for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Emma Malabuyo of the Philippines, who secured third place with a score of 50.398, claimed the only Olympic quota available at the Tashkent meet.

Dipa competed in three out of the four qualification events: Cairo, Baku, and Doha. She reached the finals in all three competitions but was unable to secure a podium finish. In Cairo, she finished fifth, and in both Baku and Doha, she narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth in each event.