Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar scripted history as she became the first Indian to > make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut Olympic Games after finishing eighth in the qualifying round here.
The Tripura-girl, who is the country's first woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, managed to perform her much-appreciated 'Produnova' vault cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts. She, however, wasn't satisfied with her effort.
"I'm happy but wish I could have done a bit better. In practice, I perform way better than this," Dipa said.
Ahead of her event, Dipa received a big boost when three-time world champion Simone Biles wished her luck.
"Simon Biles came up to me and wished me luck to do well in Produnova. She is like a star to me and difficult to think of standing beside her. I'm so overwhelmed," Dipa said.
> READ: Coach puts Dipa under ‘house arrest’ ahead of vault finals
The Produnova -- a handspring double-front somersault -- has the highest degree of difficultly for a women's vault, a 7.0, and only five women in the world have attempted it in competition.
The difficult vault has already led to a horrific injury of French gymnast Samir Ait Said, who broke his leg in the men's qualifying event on Saturday.
However, Dipa, who is India's first female gymnast at an Olympic Games, isn't concerned about performing the vault.
"I believe that practice makes perfect, and then it is not difficult anymore," she said. "My coach, (Bisweshwar Nandi) ensured that I practised extensively."
"In the last three months I did 1000 repetitions of the move. Now it is the easiest vault for me."
"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.
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