Indian Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Who Finished 4th In Rio Olympics, Retires

Trailblazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar on Monday announced her retirement from the sport, thus bringing to an end a career that broke a number of glass ceilings for Indians. Dipa was the first Indian female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics and she even missed out on a Games medal by a whisker. She is one of only five women in the world to have mastered the Produnova vault.

Karmakar finished fourth in the vault event at Rio 2016 with an overall score of 15.066.(PTI)

"After much thought and reflection, I have decided to retire from competitive gymnastics. This is not an easy decision, but it feels like the right time," she said in a statement. "Gymnastics has been at the centre of my life for as long as I can remember, and I am grateful for every moment—the highs, the lows, and everything in between."

Karmakar, 31, became the first Indian female gymnast to compete at the Olympics when she qualified for Rio 2016. She was also the first Indian to compete at the Olympics in gymnastics overall since the 1064 Tokyo Olympics. She ended up missing out on a bronze medal by a whisker finished fourth in the vault, with an overall score of 15.066. Switzerland's Giulia Steingruber finished third with 15.216, which meant that Karmakar missed out on bronze by just 0.15 points.