Autobiography of Dipa Karmakar 'The Small Wonder' launched

Guwahati: Legendary Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has launched Gymnast Dipa Karmakar's autobiography titled 'The Small Wonder' on Tuesday. The book which is doing well in the market has been authored by sports journalists Vimal Mohan, Digvijay Singh Deo and Karmakar's coach Bishhweshwar Nandi.

The book offers many untold stories of Karmakar and also described many struggle and triumph besides rare archival photos from the gymnast's private album as well as the photos of her games from Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Karmakar represented India at the 2016 Olympics in Rio who was the first Indian female gymnast to compete in the Olympics. She also attained fourth position in Women's Vault gymnastics with an overall score of 15.066. She also became the first Indian gymnast to win a gold medal at a global event when she finished first in the vault event if the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey.

Dipa had to even endure physical assault by a gymnast from another state. Although the state of Tripura has produced many top gymnasts but the state does not count in the faction-ridden Gymnastics Federation of India and it is only after Dipa's performance at Rio, her coach Bisheshwar Nandi received the Dronacharya Award but after backroom manoeuvres by other coaches had been exposed.

Karmakar is one of the only five women who have successfully landed the Produnova, which is regarded as the most difficult vault currently performed in women's gymnastics.

Karmakar is a recipient of the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India. For her performance in Rio Olympics 2016, the Government of India conferred upon her the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in August 2016.

Dipa Karmakar overcame all hardship and challenges and never complained about the lack of facilities and support from the authorities. She rose above all these things and achieved huge name and fame. Although she missed out on the bronze medal in the Olympics, she won millions of hearts and made every Indian proud.

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