Dipa Karmakar crossed numerous hurdles on the road to qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games and recovered from knee surgery after Rio to win a title in an international competition, bagging the gold in the vault at the 2018 FIG World Challenge Cup Artistic Gymnastics in Turkey.
It was followed by a bronze in the same event at the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany.
Returning to competitive sport after a procedure on her ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in Mumbai under Dr. Anant Joshi was difficult.
What was tougher was handling social perceptions about women in sport for Dipa, who countered scepticism from a male gymnast and coach by steeling herself to perform on the biggest stage.
The Olympic debutante, later awarded the Khel Ratna by the Sports Ministry, took part in a discussion on the difficulties faced by women sports persons on the sidelines of the book launch.
Others on the panel were Manisha Malhotra, Aparna Popat and Suma Shirur (noted names in tennis, badminton and shooting respectively).
Replying to questions by the moderator, each one presented their view and stated that increase in women representation in sports federation will help in making the woman’s voice heard. Asian Games tennis medalist Manisha Malhotra said (Asian Games tennis medallist and IOC award-winner for Women and Sport): “Even in a sport like tennis which is very urban, if you go on the international circuit, you will see countless examples of young girls kind of having an affair with their coaches.
“It is a situation where we need to get women empowered. It is going to take some time, but we have come a long way. In women sports on the Olympic and World Championships stage, they have a voice and not scared to express themselves.”
‘Speaking out is risky’
Aparna Popat (two-time badminton Olympian) said, “Sport as a career is itself risky business, there is no guaranteed returns at the end also.
“If your career (as a sportsperson) is so short-lived, something like this (#MeToo) can also hamper your career and all your goodwill thereafter. It is dicey because you are very dependent on your core team and it would be risky for sportspeople to speak out.”
Suma Shirur (Olympian shooter and High Performance coach for national junior rifle shooters): “I definitely feel there should be more women representation on the federations.
“It shows everywhere — for example, even in t-shirts and tracksuits, we were always given men’s sizes. Times have changed, there are other issues (affecting women in sport) and with more awareness coming in, more women and being involved.
“As a woman, it is important to make our voices heard. We have always done that our voices were so vociferous that the federation had to listen. Women should not be afraid to have a voice, Once you do so there will be lots of support.”
