Dipa Karmakar missed out on Gymnastics medal by a whisker. Dipa Karmakar missed out on Gymnastics medal by a whisker.

Dipa Karmakar returned empty handed from the Vaults final at the Gymnastics event of Rio 2016 Olympics after she finished the event at fourth position. Karmakar scored 15.066 points in the final.

USA’s Simone Biles won the gold medal with a score of 15.966 while the silver went to Russia’s Maria Paseka after her score of 15.253. Bronze was bagged by Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber for her score of 15.216.

Karmakar’s final score of 15.066 gave her the fourth position in the final. Her first vault fetched her 14.866 points but her Produnova gave her 15.266. She was second after her two vaults but Russia and USA were the last to go and that pushed Karmakar out of the top three position.

Gymnastics final: As it happened (READ FULL REPORT HERE)

0000 hrs IST: Simone Biles of USA wins the gold with a vault of 15.966. This pushes Dipa Karmakar to fourth position. She misses the bronze medal by 0.150 points

2355 hrs IST: Russia’s Maria Paseka scores 15.253 to jump into lead. Dipa slips to 3rd position

2349 hrs IST: Dipa Karmakar scores 14.866 in first vault and then averages 15.066 and is currently in second posiotn

2346 hrs IST: Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber with a brilliant vault. She gets 15.533. In the second she gets 14.900. She leads with 15.216

2342 hrs IST: China’s Yan Wang completes her first vault and gets 14.866 as the score. Her second vault fetches her 15.133. She jumps into the lead with 14.999

2337 hrs IST: Uzbekistan legend Oksana Chusovitina trips over in her produnova. But completes the second vault. She gets an average 14.833

2336 hrs IST: Olsen’s first vaults fetches her 14.966 and the second gets her 14.666. Average score is 14.816

2335 hrs IST: Canada’s Shallon Olsen with two magnificent vaults and she will get a good score here. Only 16 years of age

2322 hrs IST: Korea’s Un Jong Hong performs her first vault and gets a good score of 15.400. She falls in the second but still manages a score of 14.400. She scores 14.900 in her final

2320 hrs IST” Dipa Karmakar’s event begins in Rio Olympics. She will perform at the fifth position

2300 hrs IST: Are you ready for the historic event at the Olympics for India? Dipa Karmakar will perform in the vaults final

Karmakar vaults into history

Dipa Karmakar will compete in the final on August 14. (Source: AP) Dipa Karmakar will compete in the final on August 14. (Source: AP)

India’s Dipa Karmakar created history on Monday after she became the first Indian to qualify for the apparatus finals of artistic Gymnastics at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Karmakar, who hails from Tripura, finished eighth in the qualification event of the Vaults and scored 14.850 to qualify. She could not repeat her performance in three other events, namely uneven bars, balancing beam and floor exercise. Though Karmakar was sixth before the final round, a strong performance from Canada saw her slip to eight but that was the last position to qualify.

In a total of five subdivisions, the gymnasts tried to qualify by finishing in top eight. After three subdivisions, Karmakar was sixth and her qualification depended on performances from gymnasts from USA, Japan, Canada and Russia.

The finals of the artistic Gymnastics will be held on August 14, Sunday at 2315 hrs IST.

USA’s Simone Biles, the flying American, who said she “didn’t want to die doing Produnova” tallied a monstrous 16.050 to top the qualification.

The subdivision five, which had six gymnasts – Saw Miyakawa (Japan), Marcia Vidiaux (Cuba), Alexa Moreno (Mexico) and Canada’s Brittany Rogers, Elsabeth Black and Shallon Olsen, saw only one qualification.

Two Dipa Karmakar somersaults, one giant leap for India at Olympics

Dipa Karmakar performs the Produnova vault to become the first Indian to enter the gymnastics final. (Source: Reuters) Dipa Karmakar performs the Produnova vault to become the first Indian to enter the gymnastics final. (Source: Reuters)

IT’S seductive to be caught up in the whirl that surrounds Dipa Karmakar and her stupendous journey to become the first Indian to enter the gymnastics finals at the Olympic Games. It’s tantalising to forget the precise moment — a field of eight of the best contemporary women on the vaulting horse, all cut-throat competitors with razor-sharp focus and a greedy need to win that medal — and barter it for the warm, fuzzy story of a girl who was born flat-footed but went on to become a vault sensation.

Dipa’s giant leap isn’t complete, she continues to fly. Gazing at her is better than looking back. India needs to wait for the night of August 14 when Dipa will stromp up the runway, summon raw power to launch herself in the air and stake her claim to gymnastics’ ultimate prize. Dipa wants the country to make the metaphorical journey with her, each thudding step of the way, and like her pet move, fly into the future. It’s not called a double-front somersault for nothing.

Many in India would have made it to office on Monday morning, sleep-deprived and wondering if Dipa had made it to the final. Sunday night, on Twitter, they had cursed the broadcaster for not keeping the cameras on the lone Indian gymnast at the Olympics. Dipa, lying sixth in the standings till three-fifth of the field was done, was pushed by some seriously skilled vaulters who didn’t concede one inch just because she’s India’s first ever to fetch up. From two attempts, one of which was a clean ‘Produnova’, Dipa averaged 14.850. The dawn in India brought with it clarity and good news. Dipa had made it.

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