Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra
Bhubaneswar, April 20: Dipa Karmakar’s historic feat of becoming the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics has turned into an inspirational tale for many including Orissa’s own Rakesh Kumar Patra.
Rakesh and Dipa are close friends and he was one of the first to congratulate the Tripura gymnast. “She (Dipa) was over the moon. She told me that the standard was high in the Rio Qualifiers and succeeding there had been pretty satisfactory for her,” Rakesh, who is currently at the Navy training camp at Goa, informed.
“I was confident she would qualify. She has worked very hard, she is focused and trains harder than the boys. She also has a lot of faith on her coach Biseswar Nandi. Moreover, she has a very good nature and has a cool and calm head on her strong shoulders. What makes her special is that she is also a very nice human being,” added the Orissa gymnast.
Rakesh however, stated that the ‘luck’ factor had helped Dipa. “Probably she is the epitome of ‘Lady Luck’,” Rakesh said. “She was among the 26 girls in the reserve list for the Rio Qualifiers. Two Korean girls withdrew and she got the chance which she grabbed with both hands. I was among the 25 reserves for the men. Unluckily no one pulled out, so I did not get the chance to participate,” he added.
In the Glasgow World Gymnastics Championships, last October, Rakesh finished 91st among 267 competitors. His Olympic hopes were dashed, but Dipa’s performance has now inspired him. “At Glasgow, I made a few small errors for which I was eliminated,” informed Rakesh. “But now Dipa’s feat has really motivated all gymnasts, including me and I know for sure that I am going work doubly hard with an eye on a podium finish in the 2018 CWG,” he asserted.