Agartala, Oct. 12: Olympian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the women's vault event at Rio Olympics, has landed in a tricky situation over the BMW car presented to her by the Hyderabad District Badminton Association.
Dipa now wants to return the car, which was presented to her by none other than cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, because of the difficulty she is facing in maintaining the luxury vehicle in the Tripura capital.
Dipa, along with India's two medallists from Rio - badminton star P.V. Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik - and Sindhu's coach Pullela Gopichand, received a BMW car in August for her achievement at the Rio Olympics.
"There is no showroom or service centre of BMW cars in Tripura. If the car develops any technical snag during driving, how would I repair it? There is a lack of suitable roads in Agartala and other places of the state to ply the luxury car," Dipa told reporters.
"Sir (her coach Bisweshwar Nandi) discussed these matters with V. Chamundeshwarnath, president of Hyderabad District Badminton Association who gave the car. He agreed to deposit money equal to the car's cost in my bank account. We would be happy with whatever amount they give instead of the BMW car," she said.
Dipa, who hails from Agartala, said she did not take the decision alone . The decision was collectively taken by her coach, parents and other family members.
In August, while Sindhu and Gopi received BMW 320Ds that cost around Rs 40 lakh each, Sakshi and Dipa received compact crossover BMW X1s priced at around Rs 30 lakh . Cricket legend and India's goodwill ambassador at Rio Olympics, Sachin Tendulkar, handed over the keys of the cars, made by German automaker BMW Group.
"I am now staying focused and preparing for the Challengers' Cup in Germany, which is only a month away. I was advised by my coach not to worry about maintaining the expensive gift and focus on the future challenges to come," Dipa said.
The 23-year-old Tripura girl, who became the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, finished fourth in the final round of the women's vault event at the Rio Games. She scored 15.066 points, a mere 0.15 less than eventual bronze medallist Giulia Steingruber (15.216) of Switzerland, and missed out on a podium finish by a whisker.
