First Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar today returned home amid loud cheers from thousand of fans, who had throned the Agartala airport here.
Dipa and her coach, Bisweswar Nandi, who arrived from Delhi this morning, were received at the Agartala airport by the Director of Sports of the state, Dulal Das, Secretary of the Sports Council of Tripura, Dilip Chakraborty.
After a hectic schedule at Rio de Janeiro and a long journey back home, Dipa is now looking forward to stay with her parents for a week.
"Now I'll prepare myself to participate in the Olympic game and would put every effort to bring a medal for the country. I have come here to stay with my parents for about a week and have home maid food prepared by my mother," she told reporters.
Visibly cheerful, Dipa said she got cooperation from all corners of the country and the contribution of her coach was unparallel.
She booked her Rio ticket after qualifying in artistic gymnastics following a total score of 52.698 points in the Test event. She also won the gold medal in vault final in the event.
Apart from being the first Indian woman, she also became first from the country to qualify for the quadrennial extravaganza after 52 long years.
Since Independence, 11 Indian male gymnasts took part in the Olympics (two in 1952, three in 1956 and six in 1964).
Nandi said, "Create better infrastructure, I can talk
about creating more Dipas. There is no dearth of talent in gymnastics in Tripura. I promise you that I will work very hard to see Dipa in the podium in the next Olympics."
Chowdhury claimed that Dipa's participation in the Olympics had been uncertain due to infighting in Gymnastics federation.
"One group was led by the federation president and the other by its secretary. We immediately informed the matter to the union sports minister and she could finally participate," he said.
