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[India’s Dipa Karmakar competes during the artistic gymnastics test event Women’s Vault final for the Rio 2016 Olympic games at the Rio Olympic Arena of the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 18, 2016. Photo Credit: Yosuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images]
In her maiden visit to the Olympics, Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar has created history by making it to the Individual final round in Rio de Janeiro.
Initially, the 23-year-old from Tripura finished eighth in the qualifying rounds of the individual vault. At the qualifying rounds, she performed her specialty—Produnova vault—and secured 14.850 points after two attempts. With this score, she managed to lock a safe spot in the individual vault finals, taking place this Sunday. The high results must have been the best birthday gift for the young athlete, as she celebrated her birthday on August 9.
Since 1952, 11 male gymnasts from India have taken part in the Olympics but Karmakar is the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify—she has created history for women. When she started to practice gymnastics at the age of six, she was flat-footed. Since 2007, Karmakar has won 77 medals. However, she came to the spotlight only in 2014, when she won the bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She is also the recipient of Arjuna Award in 2015.
Her specialty, the Produnova vault, is named after Russian gymnast Elena Produnova, who first landed it in 1999. The Produnova vault considered high-risk and is still entangled in a controversy to get banned. However, despite its risk, Karmakar has owned the act and opted for it at the Commonwealth Games, Asian Championship, World Championship, and even at the Olympic test event.
Interestingly, there will be just two contestants who will perform the act for the finals on Sunday—Dipa Karmakar and Oksana Chusovitina, a 41-year-old Uzbek who is the Games’ oldest gymnast.
Soon after Karmakar’s qualifying rounds, congratulatory messages started pouring in:
Congrats #DipaKarmakar – the 1st Indian female gymnast in an @Olympics finals. Your journey from Agartala to #Rio2016 is inspiring.
— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 8, 2016
“Only 5 hv ever done it…Dipa’s score highest ever… Even better than Produnova herself.” Wow! Go, #DipaKarmakar httpss://t.co/2Tg3mkUJcY
— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) August 9, 2016
Congratulations to #DipaKarmakar for becoming first Indian gymnast to qualify for the vault finals at #Olympics Wishing her all the best.
— ShivrajSingh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) August 8, 2016
Happy Birthday #DipaKarmakar
Aise ki Karma Kar.Keep flying high.@msdhoni is Helicopter,you are Jumbo Jet#UdtaTeer pic.twitter.com/YlwhHR8qlA— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 9, 2016
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