India's Dipa Karmakar fails to secure Olympic quota at Asian Gymnastics Championships 2024

India will not have any participation in gymnastics at Paris 2024.

In a major disappointment, India’s star gymnast Dipa Karmakar failed to secure an Olympic quota for Paris 2024 after finishing a lowly 16th in the all-around final at the Asian Gymnastics Championships 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Friday.

The 30-year-old, who created history by becoming the first Indian female gymnast to compete at the Olympics in Rio 2016, scored a total of 46.166 points to fall way behind the qualifying mark. Her best effort came in vault with 13.400 points, but she struggled on uneven bars (10.666), balance beam (10.800) and floor exercise (11.300).

Heartbreak for India! 🇮🇳💔Dipa Karmakar finishes 16th in the all-around at the Asian #Gymnastics Championships, missing out on #Paris2024.No Indian Gymnast will feature in the Paris Olympics.#Parisolympics pic.twitter.com/IXL6AUJebF

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) May 24, 2024

The lone quota spot on offer went to Emma Malabuyo of the Philippines, who finished 3rd in the all-around with 50.398 points. As a result, India will not have any gymnasts at the Olympics for the first time since the 2008 Beijing Games.

It marks a huge setback for Karmakar, who has endured a torrid last few years due to injuries and a brief doping case, from which she was eventually cleared. Despite making a comeback last year, the Tripura gymnast could not rediscover her best form in time for the all-important Asian Championships.

Karmakar’s dream run had started at the 2016 Rio Olympics when she narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal by finishing 4th in the vault final. Her inspirational story of overcoming a flat foot had made her a household name in India.

With no Indian gymnast at Paris 2024, the onus will be on the junior athletes to make rapid strides over the next Olympic cycle. The apparatus finals and junior qualifications at the Asian Championships are scheduled from May 25-28.

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