Dipa Karmakar Did 1000 'Death Vaults' Before Rio 2016, Coach Reveals to NDTV

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar and her coach Bisweshwar Nandi have returned to India following their successful stint at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Dipa narrowly missed a medal after finishing fourth in the vault finals but captured the imagination of the world by performing the 'Produnova'. In an exclusive to NDTV, her coach revealed that Dipa did more than 1000 'Prudunova' vaults before the Rio Games.

The 23-year-old became the first Indian gymnast to qualify for an Olympic final. Dipa and Nandi spoke exclusively to NDTV and talked about the hardwork that went into achieving the feat and what the country can expect next from her.



Here are their top 10 quotes:

1. Dipa practiced more than 1000 'Produnova' (considered a death vault, practiced by a few handful gymnasts in the world) vaults in three months: Dipa Karmakar's coach - Bisweshwar Nandi
2. Gymnasts from other countries practice for a year before Olympics, we practiced for just three months: Dipa Karmakar's coach
3. Happy about my score in final, but a little upset that I finished fourth: Dipa Karmakar
4. My aim is to reach the podium in the next Olympics (2020 Tokyo Games): Dipa Karmakar
5. My mother fears watching me perform gymnastics: Dipa Karmakar
6. Sachin Tendulkar is my favourite sportsperson: Dipa Karmakar
7. The more you practice, the more you will become better: Dipa Karmakar
8. Support from a lot people, including SAI and state government has helped me achieve this feat: Dipa Karmakar
9. People's mindset has now changed towards gymnastics: Dipa Karmakar
10. Gymnast Ashish Kumar's performance in 2010 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games was a huge inspiration for me: Dipa Karmakar