Popping painkillers, Dipa Karmakar comes painstakingly close to winning medal

Dipa Karmakar's dream of winning an Asian Games medal was shattered on Wednesday as she finished fourth in the vault final here at the Namdong Gymnasium.

Karmakar finished with a score of 14.200 in an event dominated by Olympic champions. Unjong Hong of North Korea won the gold with a score of 15.349, Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan won silver with 14.750 and Thi Ha Thanh Phan of Vietnam (14.683 points) took the bronze.

Karmakar has been in the spotlight ever since her rare bronze-winning feat at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She became India's first woman gymnast to win a CWG medal.

But she also injured her ankle during the triumph and was advised to skip the Asian Games. Despite the pain, she continued her preparations with the help of painkillers and sounded hopeful of a medal after reaching here in Korea.

"I will give my 100 per cent for medal here," Dipa had told dna last week. And she delivered what she promised to the world. Her famous two-and-a-half somersault (Produnova) was again on display in her second and final attempt. But it was while landing that her hand touched the floor and cost her a vital point. The 21-year-old from Tripura had mixed feelings.

"Yes, I'm disappointed because I seriously thought that I had a good chance of winning a medal. That's why I kept pushing myself even after my ankle gave me trouble," she said.

When asked if skipping Incheon would have been a better decision, she immediately interrupted the question. "See, the two top girls here are the gold and silver medallists in the Olympics while the third girl was bronze winner at the world championships. So, I'm more than happy that I gave them a good fight and finished fourth here."

Karmakar now wants to go back and get her ankle treated in India. "I am going to be out of training for some time till my ankle is completely fine. I was having almost 10 painkillers each day since I suffered this hairline fracture," she said.