Dipa Karmakar won millions of hearts when she finished fourth in the final of gymnastics’ vault at the Rio Olympics 2016 and the gymnast believes that the Produnova act which is performed by her is not a death vault.
Dipa’s belief in her Produnova act is such that the gymnast is not afraid of practicing it in her future competitions. Even though experts believe that the Produnova is a very dangerous act to perform and could also cause death if there is a mishap.
It should also be noted that the Produnova is commonly known as the 'Vault of Death' and even the best of athletes fear and hesitate in attempting it.
But for Dipa, that is not the case, as she has been pretty vocal of her skills in doing the marvelous vault. Karmakar had become the first ever Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games and the 23-year old went on to perform exceptionally well in her debut as she missed the podium by a whisker.
However, the Olympic gymnast returned to her nation to a rousing reception and spoke to PTI about her performance. Dipa said, "I will continue doing the Produnova, not thinking of any other vault at the moment. I don't think it's a death vault, if we practice everything becomes easy, my coach made me practice.”
The vaulter recalled her experience at the finals and further said, “I became famous for my vault in the Olympics some called me 'Produnova Girl' others called me 'Dipa Produnova', a lot of people were cheering for me in the finals. I felt I made the right decision by choosing this vault."
The 23-year old also mentioned that nothing has changed in her life since her exploits in the Olympic Games and that she is extremely proud of bringing gymnastics into the limelight in India. She said, “My life is still the same, I am still a gymnast, I still want to win a medal. But yes, I feel nice that because of me people got to know about gymnastic in India.”
My coach deserves the Dronacharya award: Dipa
The gymnast was also very happy about her getting nominated for the Khel Ratna award but said that her coach deserves the Dronacharya award. “My coach deserves the Dronacharya award more than me (getting Khel Ratna),” she said.
Responding to questions about the Produnova, Dipa’s coach, Bisweshwar Nandi said, “Everything is risky, if you practice properly everything becomes easy. I made Dipa practice the vault a lot and thus the Produnova has become easy for her.”
Infact, Nandi has been nominated for the Dronacharya award and was all praises for Dipa’s performance and added that he always knew that the gymnast would qualify for the finals. He said, “I am satisfied with Dipa's performance, had we won a medal I would have felt better but I'm happy."
