Gymnast Dipa Karmakar lambasts Sports Ministry for Asian Games disqualification despite topping trials

Indian star gymnast Dipa Karmakar took the opportunity on Independence Day to lash out at Sports Authorities for lack of transparency over her disqualification for the Hangzhou Asian Games, despite topping the trials. Dipa topped the trials held in Bhubaneswar on 11 and 12 July and was part of the initial squad sent to the Asian Games organisers before the 15 July deadline, but was later axed for not fulfilling the sports ministry’s criteria. “To my surprise, despite topping the national trials and meeting the @IndiaSports selection criteria, it appears that I will be deprived of the opportunity to participate in the @19thAGofficial,” she wrote. “Worse still, the reasons behind this decision are unknown to me and have not been communicated officially. Instead, my fellow gymnasts and I are left to read about our exclusion from the Games in the news,” she added.

On this #IndependenceDay, I am using my freedom of speech to discuss recent events that have proven to be very demotivating and discouraging.
The #AsianGames2023, an event I have eagerly anticipated for the past two years, looks further than it is. (1/N)

— Dipa Karmakar (@DipaKarmakar) August 15, 2023

The selection criteria set on 10 July states, “In individual events during the last 12 months prior to the commencement of the event (Asian Games), the performance of the sportspersons should not be less than the performance achieved by the eighth position holder of the 2018 Asian Games in measurable sports.” However, Dipa, who had been mired by injuries and a doping ban, could not compete in any of the events in recent years. Dipa underwent surgery to treat her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in 2017 but a constant injury in her knee kept her away from major competitions. She eventually missed the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart. An injured Dipa also missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Then she served a 21-month ban, which ended on 10 July this year, after testing positive for a higenamine - A prohibited substance. The Gymnastics Federation of India had last week requested the sports ministry to consider Dipa’s case, after she was dropped from the final list of the women’s gymnastics squad, given her peculiar situation. “Dipa has changed the face of Indian gymnastics. She has not been competing for the last few years because of injuries and a doping suspension but we need to consider that she has topped the trials,” GFI selection committee chairman Ashok Sahoo told PTI. “We have written to SAI (Sports Authority of India) to consider Dipa’s case and she is likely to be given relaxation. We are pretty positive about it,” he added. GFI president Sudhir Mittal also voiced support for Dipa and argued that she met the standard and was a ‘medal prospect’. “We feel she meets the standard. She’s been training hard, but couldn’t compete because of the suspension. Her fitness levels at the selection trial were very high. She’s a medal prospect as far as we are concerned. They told us she hasn’t obtained the desired marks and hence hasn’t qualified. The ultimate decision is with the Ministry," GFI president Sudhir Mittal told The Indian Express.