RIO DE JANEIRO:Here at the venue, she is known as the Produnova girl. Tripura is just a speck on the India map. A few journalists even wondered where the place is. In whatever way she could Dipa Karmakar has brought the remote city in the Northeast into the limelight.
Sunday may turn the place into a gymnastic hub. Like Christ the Redeemer, the day beckons her to vault into history with open arms. A good elevation, tight sommersaults and a good landing is what she is aiming for. A good amount of backroom discussion and strategies are going on to land that elusive medal.
An extreme situation demands extreme measures. Dipa has limitations and needs to work on her strength. The vault is her bread and butter. It is the riskiest of all manoeuvres and she knows without this she is nobody. She qualified in eighth position.
Coach Bisheswar Nandi has worked on her flaws in the last few days. “She had to gain elevation for getting her sommersaults right,” he said. “That day she did not gain enough height. The legs were not close together so I have advised her to keep that way.”
The height is crucial for any gymnast attempting this death-defying feat. It helps in good landing. You should not come down with a thud. “Saturday morning was our last practice and we tried to iron out the flaws,” said Nandi. In gymnastics nothing is predictable. Dipa had a decent vault with a score of 15.1 (7 for difficulty and 8.1 execution). Her second vault gave her 14.6.
“I have been with her for the last 16 years. I know what needs to be done to help her keep happy and I know how to motivate her,” he said.
“She will do her usual first vault and the Produnova will be her second attempt. Since she is doing Produnova well, we have interchanged the vaults. She concentrates more on the first vault. So we brought the second vault first and the Produnova second. If we get points there it will give us hope. All the eight who have qualified can win. If fortune favours the gymnast then she will definitely win a medal.”
US gymnastics sensation Simone Biles was the leader in vault with a difference of more than one point. Another woman who is capable of attempting the Produnova is Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan who already owns gold and silver Olympic medals. It is learnt that even she is inspired by Dipa to attempt the Produnova. “I think she might attempt that,” he said.
“She is the only gymnast who can do that.” With three months of practice, Nandi felt it was a big thing for them to be here. “Even if she doesn’t win she will finish eighth, right? Isn’t that big enough?” It is indeed.