Dipa Karmakar

On August 14, 2016, a young girl, India’ s first female gymnast to compete at the Olympics, landed the Produnova that took her to the cusp of an Olympic medal. She came fourth yet soared into the hearts of millions across the globe. Dipa Karmakar’ s fourth-place finish at the Rio Olympic Games was a defining moment for Indian sport, which had barely cast a glance at the sport of gymnastics as a medal discipline till then. Dipa’ s journey from Tripura, an oft-neglected sporting outpost, to the national consciousness and India’ s highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, is one of grit, determination, and a stubbornness to beat the odds.