Dipa Karmakar's death-defying vault and why she sticks to it

Dipa Karmakar's death-defying vault and why she sticks to it

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar has been scripting history ever since she became the country's first woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, but to do so she has had to master perhaps the most perilous vault known to the sport.

Karmakar, who turns 23 on Tuesday, became the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut Olympic Games and in the process she managed to perform her much-appreciated 'Produnova' vault cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts.

ALSO READ: 2016 Rio Olympics: Who is Dipa Karmakar? All you need to know

However, every time she attempts the Produnova she puts her life and limbs at risk. Described as the "most difficult and dangerous manoeuvre in women’s gymnastics" by The Wall Street Journal, it currently has a 7.0 D-score and thus provides a leg-up for any gymnast able to perform it successfully.

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