Dipa Karmakar shocked, puzzled after international gymnastics federation marks her ‘suspended’, says coach Bishweshwar Nandi

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar had missed out on the Tokyo Olympics 2021 due to the suspension of the qualification tournaments in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar. (Source: Twitter)

Top Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who took 2016 Rio Olympics by storm by finishing fourth in the vault event, has been given a rude shock by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique – the international gymnastics body. Karmakar has been marked as suspended by the international gymnastics body but the Indian star is clueless about the reason for this.

Karmakar, who is currently in Agartala, was not available to react on the matter but her coach Bishweshwar Nandi who is currently part of the Gymnastics Federation of India national camp spoke to Zee News English.

Nandi informed that Dipa was aware of her status on the international Gymnastics website and was ‘shocked and puzzled’. “Dipa is currently in Agartala as she is not part of the national camp. She is as shocked and puzzled about this as all of us. We are all trying to find out, why the international federation has marked her as ‘suspended’ when there is no such communication from the GFI. As soon as we find out more about this issue, we’ll inform everyone,” Nandi told Zee News English on Monday (February 28).

Dipa missed out on the Tokyo Olympics 2021 due to the suspension of the qualification tournaments in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The gymnast from Agartala was all set to get back to the grind along with her compatriots last year at the national camp under Nandi. It will be the first time in the history of gymnastics in India that up to four gymnasts from Tripura will participate.

The national camp in Delhi has been underway since last year to prepare the gymnasts for 2022 Asian Games, 2022 Commonwealth Games, World Championships, Asian Championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, GFI president Sudhir Mittal told Zee News English that they had received no information about Dipa’s ‘suspension’ from FIG.

“We have received no information from FIG about this matter. We have sought clarity from the international body on this issue,” Mittal told Zee News English.