Rio 2016 | So near, yet so far; Dipa Karmakar finishes fourth

In another close miss for India at the Rio, Dipa Karmakar finished just 0.15 points away from a bronze medal in the women’s vault final. Dipa, who qualified for the event in the 8th position, did a Tusk in her first attempt and scored 14.866 points with a difficulty score of 6 and an execution score of 8.866. The much-awaited Produnova came in the second attempt and she flew through the air with grace before landing almost perfectly, only to ruin it by touching the cushion with her bottom. That took a few points of her score, and she scored 15.266 with a difficulty of 7 and an execution score of 8.266. That pushed Dipa to the second position at that time with a total score of 15.066.

A medal was in sight, but 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships vault gold medalist Maria Paseka of Russia and the USA’s Simone Biles, who won the bronze at the World championships, were still remaining in the competition. Paseka then scored 15.266 and 15.241 in her two attempts and finished with a score of 15.253. That pushed down Dipa to third, and Simone Biles was up next. The American, who scored 16.050 in the qualifying round, scored lesser - 15.966, but it was enough on the day to win her a gold medal. But, it was all over for Dipa.

A fourth position after coming so close was heartbreaking, but she can be proud of making a nation burn midnight oil, watching a sport which they have no idea about.