What’s the story?
Indian sports stars Dipa Karmakar, Sakshi Malik and Sharath Gayakwad are amongst the 53 Indians who have made it to the Forbes’ list of super achievers from Asia in the under-30 category.
Complimenting Dipa Karmakar on making to the list, Forbes said, “While she didn't win a medal, she ranked an impressive fourth on her first-ever Olympic outing, missing the bronze by a hair's breadth - 0.15 points.”
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This was the second '30 Under 30' Asia list published by Forbes, which features 300 impressive young entrepreneurs (30 in 10 categories each, including entertainment, finance and venture capital, retail, social entrepreneurs and enterprise technology, under the age of 30 years). India is behind China (76 nominees) in the list, with 53 achievers.
The heart of the matter
23-year-old gymnast, Dipa Karmakar, who hails from Agartala rose to fame when she successfully completed the Produnova vault at the Rio Olympics last year. Karmakar is also the first Indian woman gymnast to ever compete in the Olympics. However, she narrowly missed out on the bronze medal, finishing fourth in the finals.
Fellow athlete Sakshi Malik, gave India its long-awaited podium finish by clinching a bronze in the 58 kg category, thus becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics and the fourth woman Olympic medalist in the country.
India's first Paralympic swimmer, Sharath Gayakwad, is the third Indian sportsperson on the list. The 25-year-old Paralympian is also an Arjuna award winner and has won 96 medals in total.
Also Read: How Sharath Gayakwad overcame physical disability to become India's most successful athlete
What’s next
However, Dipa Karmakar looks highly unlikely to be on the list next year given the fact that she has suffered a major injury (an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury) to her knees while training at the National training camp at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. She is also doubtful for the Asian gymnastics meet.
Author’s take
Every sportsperson goes through insurmountable obstacles to reach the top and in all probability, they do deserve recognition. The Forbes list of super achievers is thus a brilliant initiative which recognizes such sports stars and their hardships and gives them motivation to move ahead and prosper.
