As Dipa Karmakar created history by finishing fourth in her vault final on Sunday, Dipa herself had just one thing in mind - to finish what was left unfinished.
In an exclusive interview with ESPN, Dipa said, "I believe that this is just the beginning for me. I have a lot left to do in the future. What I wish to do in the next four years is to finish what I missed out on by a little margin."
Her coach Bisweshawar Nandi, on the other hand, had the future of gymnastics in India in sight. "This is just the beginning for gymnastics," he said. "My aim for 2020 is to send atleast three girls for the World Championships who could further qualify for the Olympics."
While Dipa remained focused on her vaults throughout her performance, the thought of a medal finish did cross her mind afterwards. "Once I finished, I thought I had a shot on winning bronze. We all knew that Biles would win gold, but I thought I could definitely fight for a third-place finish. My vault was good too, but as luck would have it, I missed out by 0.2 points," she said.
Hello everyone, very happy to connect with you all today through my team. Happy Independence Day! pic.twitter.com/6AW11EPPRe
- Dipa Karmakar (@DipaKarmakar) 15 August 2016
Incidentally, Dipa already had a feeling that she would finish fourth as soon as her scores were announced. "I thought that if I could finish first after my vaults, I would definitely be up for the third place in the end, since two just other gymnasts were left to compete after me. But as soon as soon as I saw that I finished in the silver position, I knew I'd end up being fourth," she said.
Talking about Simone Biles, who finished first at the event winning her third gold at the Olympics, Dipa said, "She, as a gymnast, is one of a kind. I don't think there has been, and will be, anyone like her in the world. She is mindblowing. Everyone must salute her." Biles, applauding Dipa's progress, had previously said that she would never attempt the kind of vault (Produnova) Dipa does.