<p>For sheer courage and class, Dipa Karmakar won plaudits all around as she won the fourth place in vault at the Olympic Games gymnastics on Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Dipa had already created history by becoming the first Indian gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games a few days ago and on this day, she raised the bar higher for aspiring youngsters in her country with a bold display.<br /><br />The 23-year-old from Tripura betrayed a tinge of nervousness but there was no hint of it in her performance, her two vaults earning her scores of 14.866 and 15.266 for an average of 15.066. For a brief moment, she was in second place but with the giants of world gymnastics still to perform, it was obvious that she would slip down a rung or two.<br /><br /> American Simone Biles, the all-around champion, expectedly won the gold in 15.966, with Maria Paseka (15.253) of Russia taking the silver and Giulia Steingruber (15.216) of Switzerland winning the bronze.<br /><br />From a country with no history of gymnastics at the global level, Dipa, though, was a clear winner. She said it as much, minutes later, when she was mobbed by the mediamen.<br /><br />“I am happy with my performance, I did my best on this day,” she said. “I would rank my achievement higher than my rivals as they have been doing this for years. They have a history, they have the facilities and they get the exposure. We don’t even have a tradition in this sport.”<br /><br />Dipa, dressed in an electric blue attire, was the sixth to perform and she launched into the Tuskahara 720 vault first up, landing with a just a little skip backward. With a degree of difficulty of six, she received 8.666 points for a total of 14.866 for the first vault.<br /><br />The Indian then unleashed what the world was waiting for – the Produnova. A few minutes earlier, 41-year-old Uzbek veteran Oksana Chusovitina, competing in her seventh Olympics and one of the five to land the Produnova in a competition, had taken tumble attempting it.<br /><br />Dipa, though, was better. She did the two somersaults and landed very low down, her back almost touching the floor. A long wait ensued before the score came on the screen – a 15.266, putting her in second position. Biles and Paseka then overtook her but Dipa’s mission was well and truly successful.<br /><br />“Don’t think Indians can’t do anything,” she declared minutes later. “We can do plenty of things.”<br /> </p>
<p>For sheer courage and class, Dipa Karmakar won plaudits all around as she won the fourth place in vault at the Olympic Games gymnastics on Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Dipa had already created history by becoming the first Indian gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games a few days ago and on this day, she raised the bar higher for aspiring youngsters in her country with a bold display.<br /><br />The 23-year-old from Tripura betrayed a tinge of nervousness but there was no hint of it in her performance, her two vaults earning her scores of 14.866 and 15.266 for an average of 15.066. For a brief moment, she was in second place but with the giants of world gymnastics still to perform, it was obvious that she would slip down a rung or two.<br /><br /> American Simone Biles, the all-around champion, expectedly won the gold in 15.966, with Maria Paseka (15.253) of Russia taking the silver and Giulia Steingruber (15.216) of Switzerland winning the bronze.<br /><br />From a country with no history of gymnastics at the global level, Dipa, though, was a clear winner. She said it as much, minutes later, when she was mobbed by the mediamen.<br /><br />“I am happy with my performance, I did my best on this day,” she said. “I would rank my achievement higher than my rivals as they have been doing this for years. They have a history, they have the facilities and they get the exposure. We don’t even have a tradition in this sport.”<br /><br />Dipa, dressed in an electric blue attire, was the sixth to perform and she launched into the Tuskahara 720 vault first up, landing with a just a little skip backward. With a degree of difficulty of six, she received 8.666 points for a total of 14.866 for the first vault.<br /><br />The Indian then unleashed what the world was waiting for – the Produnova. A few minutes earlier, 41-year-old Uzbek veteran Oksana Chusovitina, competing in her seventh Olympics and one of the five to land the Produnova in a competition, had taken tumble attempting it.<br /><br />Dipa, though, was better. She did the two somersaults and landed very low down, her back almost touching the floor. A long wait ensued before the score came on the screen – a 15.266, putting her in second position. Biles and Paseka then overtook her but Dipa’s mission was well and truly successful.<br /><br />“Don’t think Indians can’t do anything,” she declared minutes later. “We can do plenty of things.”<br /> </p>
