Produnova girl to return to training next week
Kolkata: Sportspersons usually look for inspiration on their comeback trail from injuries and for Dipa Karmakar, it is Russian gymnast Aliya Mustafina, who won four medals at the 2012 London Olympics after being almost down and out with a career-threatening ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) tear, the same fate that befell Dipa for which she had to undergo surgery early in the year.
“Look at Aliya Mustafina. She showed remarkable courage in winning a gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the London Games. Who would have thought of that,” Dipa told this agency on the sidelines of a promotional event here Saturday.
“Her feat is really inspirational. She came back when everyone had written her off. I’m absolutely normal, why should I think about what happened due to surgery. It does not matter to me anymore. It’s only about practice and more practice,” the ‘Produnova Girl’ added.
Dipa informed that she is following the recovery path as chalked out by her coach Bishweshwar Nandi and Dr Anant Joshi. She asserted that she mentally become stronger after going under the knife.
“I am mentally stronger now and want to achieve something. I don’t think it’s a pressure, I never allow pressure to affect me,” Dipa pointed out.
Dipa informed that she would join the national camp at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in the capital next week after her coach’s cousin’s wedding Sunday.
“My preparation has begun, I am slowly getting on to full-fledged training. I am following Sir’s programme and I will go as per his (Nandi) direction,” the 24 -year-old stated.
Asked whether the preparation time for the Commonwealth Games in April next year is less, she said: “I got three months to prepare for the Rio Olympics. So I will see how things progress and then decide on the next course of action,” Dipa informed.
Coach to decide
Even though Dipa Karmakar will join the gymnastics national camp next week, her coach Bishweshwar Nandi does not want to rush her into competitions. He said he would take a call only mid-March after seeing his ward’s progress. Nandi said here Saturday that the Asian Games in August would be a more ‘realistic target’ for her comeback. “It’s 50-50 for the Commonwealth Games right now. I will only take a call mid-March 2018,” Nandi said. “We have two more important events lined up next year – the Asian Games in Jakarta and the World Championships in Doha. So I want to go slowly,” he added.
