Rio de Janeiro: She has already grabbed a piece of history by becoming the first Indian female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics and Dipa Karmakar will aim to touch greater heights when she competes at the Rio Games, here on Sunday.
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“This is really giving me sleepless nights because medals can disappear by 0.001 of a point”.
“Not many in the country knew about this until recently, and now I hope that this vault becomes more famous than me in India”, she said.
Nandi is no stranger to overcoming impossible obstacles in a country where cricketers are gods and gymnasts are, well, nobodies. Participating in the first of her two events, Sidhu also holds the Finals world record in the 10m air pistol.
Add in the abuse he got in India’s conservative society for dedicating so many hours each day to fulfil the dreams of a young girl, and life was not easy. “We just need to stay focused”, her coach Biseshwar Nandi said.
“I used to coach boys before and then Dipa came my way”. “I’ve had to tolerate a lot of rubbish”.
His vision for Karmakar was not just a pipe dream.
Her ability to pull off a Produnova, an extremely hard and high-risk manoeuvre introduced by Russian Yelena Produnova, may give her an edge, but she will still have to contend with formidable opponents from Brazil, Germany, Russia, England and the United States.
Dipa Karmakar of India poses with her medal after winning bronze in the womens vault final of the Artistic Gymnastics event during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 31, 2014.
Brought up by her grandparents Nellie and Ron, who adopted her and her sister when their mother could no longer care for them due to drug problems, Simone is depicted by American media as every bit the giggling teenager that you would not expect her to be, under the weight of her considerable achievements.
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.
One among the five women who have successfully performed the vault in a competition, Dipa said she was at ease with the Produnova.
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“I do not feel any pressure at all, because whatever I have learned and practiced so far, I shall be doing only that”, said the 22-year-old after a training session here.
