Indian female gymnast Dipa Karmakar created history on Sunday night by qualifying for the individual vault finals in Gymnastics in Rio Olympics 2016. However, Indians who were tuned into Star Sports India were only able to see her second attempt, missing the life-threatening Produnova.
The 22-year-old from Tripura is the first Indian woman gymnast at the Olympic Games. She will also be remembered in the annals of history for performing the Produnova successfully. She is also the first Indian woman gymnast to win a Commonwealth Games medal. During the second attempt at the individual vault qualifiers, she performed the Tsukahara vault, which was televised. She had scored 14.850 points after the two attempts.
People took to Twitter on Sunday night to condemn the channel, even though it was broadcasting feed it received from the host. The channel had no control over the blink-and-miss screen time given to Karmakar. Her next performance will be on Aug. 14 where she could win to get India its first medal in gymnastics.
From celebs to civilians, many took to Twitter, including Amitabh Bachchan.
T 2341 - #DipaKarmakar .. they said they would show you but never did .. channels interested in the other country athletes ! Good luck
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) August 7, 2016
Now you see her now you don't. Seriously @StarSportsIndia ?#DipaKarmakar — mandira bedi (@mandybedi) August 7, 2016
Why don't they show #DipaKarmakar? Waiting.....
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 7, 2016
Are you kidding me @StarSportsIndia? A billion Indians stayed up to watch #DipaKarmakar and you don't show us 3 out of 4 of her apparatus?? — Sherna Doongaji (@ShernaDoongaji) August 7, 2016
Harsha Bhogle, however, explained the problem to Twitter, and defended Star Sports India.
Just to remind people that the feed comes from the host broadcaster in Rio, Star Sports doesn't control it.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 7, 2016
Meanwhile, her father said: "Tomorrow is Dipa's birthday. If she gets a medal, it will be biggest gift for her...We couldn't sleep because of tension. Now we are very happy, hoping for the best." Many others, including politicians and celebrities, congratulated the woman who created history.
And #DipaKarmakar vaults into finals. First Indian woman to achieve this... May the medal be your bday gift tmrw. pic.twitter.com/PnfAhrp6UK — Naveen Jindal (@MPNaveenJindal) August 8, 2016
Delighted that #DipaKarmakar has become 1st Indian gymnast to qualify for individual vaults in #Rio2016 best wishes pic.twitter.com/zLhjFrPPfK
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) August 8, 2016
Congratulations to #DipaKarmakar on creating history. Good luck! More power to you. #Rio2016 https://t.co/t9HNd7iFMD — Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) August 8, 2016
#DipaKarmakar you inspire us all. #achiever #flyingsolo
— Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) August 8, 2016
