India’s premier gymnast Dipa Karmakar clinched the gold medal in the vault event of the Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey on Sunday. This event marked the 24-year-old’s return to action after a long lay-off of nearly two years due to injury.
Karmakar, who had finished fourth in vault event in the 2016 Rio Olympics, scored 14.150 to win gold. She had topped the qualification as well, recording a score of 13.400. This is also Karmakar’s first medal in a World Challenge Cup.
The Tripura gymnast has also qualified in balance beam finals by finishing third in the qualification with a score of 11.850. Dipa had suffered an Anetrior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury after the Rio Olympics and had undergone surgery.
She was initially confident of making a comeback at the Commonwealth Games but rehabilitation took more time than expected and she missed the Gold Coast event. She has been included in the 10-member Indian gymnastics team for the upcoming Asian Games.
