Practised the Produnova at least 1000 times before Rio: Dipa Karmakar

Dipa and coach Bishweshwar Nandi at a Sports Journalists Federation of India's (SJFI) event in Bhubaneswar yesterday

Bhubaneshwar: Success never comes easy and Rio Olympics sensation Dipa Karmakar knows it very well. The Indian gymnast, who missed a medal in the recent quadrennial event by a whisker, left no stone unturned before she attempted the risky Produnova vault.

"I executed the Produnova vault at least a 1000 times during practice before the Rio Olympics. Thankfully, the results are there for all to see. For the first time in 52 years an Indian women gymnast made it to the finals of an Olympics event," Karmakar, who finished fourth with a score of 15.006, said yesterday at the Sports Journalists' Federation of India's annual convention here yesterday.

Strong will power
For the Tripura athlete, life has been very hard but it was sheer determination that kept her going. "I remember when I went to my first national camp, the senior girls knew nothing about me and some even asked if I had come from Bangladesh.

"Then, during another camp, a foreign coach was roped in by the government and was blunt enough to tell us girls that he only expected India's male gymnasts and not the females to bring back medals from international tournaments as he felt we were not up to the mark," Karmakar added.

"I remember my coach Bishweshwar Nandi had tears in his eyes when he heard this, but he told me that this should only inspire us to work harder and that's exactly what we did," the 23 year-old said.

Tense moments at Rio
Karmakar recalled the tense moments she underwent just before her Rio final. "I was very tense. My psychologist Bhavna Barmi called sir's mobile as I didn't have a phone. Bhavna told me that whatever happens I must ensure that my protruding teeth are always visible. She didn't want me to cover my teeth with my lips as this is a sign of nervousness. Sir also told me that the worst I could finish in the final and that also will be an achievement in itself.

So I vaulted freely at the Olympics and I'm still soaring high," she remarked.