Hyderabad: Expressing her inability to maintain a luxury car in Agartala, gymnast Dipa Karmakar has requested that she should instead be given a cash prize equivalent to the vehicle’s cost even as the body which offered her the gift promised to ‘look’ into the matter.
Karmakar, who scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for finals of an Olympic event was gifted a BMW car by the Hyderabad District Badminton Association president Chamundeswarinath in appreciation of her performance. The keys were presented to her by Sachin Tendulkar at a felicitation ceremony where she was honoured alongside PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik.
However, Dipa has informed the association that she wants to return the gift as roads in Agartala are too narrow for a BMW and also the city does not have a single BMW showroom or service centre.
The 23-year-old’s coach Bisheswar Nandi was quoted as saying that he has requested an ‘amount equivalent to the value of the car’ should be transferred to Dipa’s account.
Chamundeswarinath said here Wednesday he will have a word with the gymnast on the difficulties she is facing in handling the vehicle. “We will discuss with her. Whatever Dipa is comfortable with, we will look into it,” Chamundeswarinath stated. “The idea of gifting cars to the sportspersons was to encourage them to do better,” he added.
Press Trust of India
