Artistic gymnast Dipa Karmarkar, who gave a spectacular performance at the Rio Olympics 2016, has decided to return the luxury BMW car gifted to her. The BMW car was gifted to Karmarkar by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar for her outstanding performance while she represented India at the Rio Olympics this year.
Dipa said that she will be returning the car to its original owner, V. Chamundeswaranath the president of the Hyderabad Badminton Association. Reports say that the athlete decided to return the car due to maintenance issues. Dipa and her family live in Agartala and were facing tough times while maintaining the car as the roads at their hometown were not suitable.
The roads in the capital of Tripura are in a very bad shape and very narrow and that invited a lot of repairs. It was also suggested to her not to bear the costs of maintenance and concentrate on preparing for her next competition which is the Challengers’ Cup that is just a month away. Dipa’s coach Bishewar Nandi said that the decision to return the car was taken by him and the family of the gymnast.
Nandi said, “There are two main reasons behind it. First, there is no BMW service center in Agartala and secondly, the roads are not suitable to drive a posh car such as this”. The coach added that they have also talked to the HBA about the problems they are facing and that the Federation has agreed to take back the gift. Reports say that it was also suggested that if possible the Federation would transfer the amount equivalent to the value of the car to Dipa’s bank account. On the other hand Dipa’s father said that they are not returning the car but are replacing it with another owing to the roads in Agartala.
Photo Credits: business-standard
