Dipa Karmakar felt 'blessed' on her 25th birthday

Before she left for the Jakarta Asian Games (August 18 to September 2), India's star gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who won a gold in the women's vault event at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Turkey last month, celebrated her 25th birthday with coach Bisweshwar Nandi and other friends on Thursday.

Yesterday, she posted these pictures on Instagram and wrote: "Thank you all for your warm wishes. I feel blessed to have such amazing people who made my birthday so special. The support that I get means a lot to me."

Karmakar first gained attention when she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, becoming the first Indian female gymnast to do so in the history of the Games. She also won a bronze medal at the Asian Gymnastics Championships and finished fifth at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, both firsts for her country.

Karmakar represented India at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first Indian female gymnast ever to compete in the Olympics, and the first Indian gymnast to do so in 52 years. She attained fourth position in Women's Vault Gymnastics event at Rio, with an overall score of 15.066.

In July 2018, Karmakar became the first Indian gymnast to win a gold medal at a global event, when she finished first in the vault event of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey.

Karmakar is one of the only five women who have successfully landed the Produnova, which is regarded as the most difficult vault currently performed in women's gymnastics.

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