RIO DE JANIERO (Diya TV) — After becoming the first Indian gymnast to ever qualify for the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar further etched her name in the history books of international sport Sunday when she became the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut.
A native of the northeast state of Tripura, Karmakar managed to perform her “Produnova” vault routine cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts.
Once her routine ended, Karmakar was faced with a nervous wait — the finish placed her sixth after the third of five sub-divisions. She ultimately dropped to eighth after Canadian Shallon Olsen’s terrific effort of 14.950 rejigged the overall standings. However, the eighth-place seed was enough to secure a spot in the final, which will take place Aug. 14.
The top-8 advanced to the medal round of the final.
She was scored at 7.000 on difficulty and 8.1 for her execution of her first attempt. Her difficulty score on her second attempt was just a shade lower at 6.000.
She landed low on her Produnova vault in the first attempt, while her second vault was a ‘Tsuk double full twist’ with step to the side.
American and three-time world all-around champion Simone Biles shined bright with a score of 16.050. She scored a 9.700 for execution on both of her two attempts. North Korea’s Jong Un Hong finished in a distant second place with an overall score of 15.683. Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber finished third with a score of 15.266.
Karmakar, the first Indian woman gymnast to win a Commonwealth Games medal, finished in an underwhelming position of 47th in the all-around standings with a combined score of 51.655.
