69 years ago, at midnight of August 15, Indians may have woken to life and freedom, but this year they will remain awake to the incomparable feat of an Indian woman participating in the artistic gymnastics final of the Olympics.
Rio has seen many a record broken and rebuilt, but none is as sweet as the 22-year-old Dipa Karmakar’s resolute presence at the vault finals – an event where she will not only compete with the world’s reigning gymnasts but also with the likes of athletes who have been named the greatest of all time.
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That the woman from Agartala in Tripura will get to stand shoulder to shoulder with the living legends of gymnastics as the Olympic anthem plays is not just a matter of pride, her chances are so real that it is also a matter of trepidation for Indians and her. We take a look at Dipa’s fellow finalists at the vaults and at their performances that got them there.
Simone Biles (USA)
With a score of 16.050 in the vault, Simone Biles has gone ahead and proven herself to be a league of her own. Making the extraordinary seem expected with her complete lack of airs and palpable enjoyment of the sport, Biles scored highest in the vault, the floor exercise and the beam routine. She also propelled the U.S. team to a lead of an astounding 10 points over China, going into the team finals.
For her first vault, Biles did a rippling Amanar that got her 16.0 points. Time slowed during her two-and-half twists which she converted with incredible finesse into a stick that was neater than our average standing stance. The second was a Cheng vault which earned her a whopping 16.10. Not only was it an aesthetic delight to watch, the expanded one-and-half twist-laden salto was so perfect that Biles herself broke into a smile at its end.
Biles’ place in the finals redefines the goal for the rest of the vaulters in the game. They no longer need to aim for the gold, the silver is now the highest medal they can hope for.
#2 Un Jong Hong (DPR Korea)
With a second place score of 15.683, Un Jong Hong’s never-before-seen triple twisting Yurchenko vault should have received greater attention for its difficulty. But one of the most mysterious gymnasts of the world is shrouded in her own silence.
Back from a ban for using three separate birth years in competition, Hong looked determined as ever. She has earlier denied Simone Biles gold medals and this time, she stuck a beautiful and complicated Yurchenko. One of the greatest contemporary gymnasts in the world, Hong has curiously little buzz around her but is sure to have a medal by the end of the competition.
#3 Giulia Steingruber (Switzerland)
With a balance beam somersault to her name, Steingruber surprised everyone by coming 68th in the beam. However, with a fifth place floor exercise finish and a third place finish at the vault, the Swedish European Champion is still very much in the running for a podium finish at Rio.
Interestingly, Steingruber’s first vault was a Chusovitina – a front handspring spiked salto with a twist off – named after her competitor Oksana Chusovitina who was the first to do it. Her second vault was a Yurchenko with a double twist. The result was a total score of 15.266, which (in one of those rare and ridiculous eventualities that only sports can bring about) placed her above Chusovitina herself.
#4 Maria Paseka (Russia)
Paseka is the 2015 World and European Champion on vault and with a score of 15.049 she certainly looks like there might be the reason behind that. The bronze winner in the 2012 London Olympics was in her element at the qualifiers and it heartened both her judges and the viewers to see a return of her ‘crazy’ ways.
Distinguished by a flailing run, Paseka’s Cheng vault was followed by an Amanar. And it was an Amanar so good that it eclipsed the messy Cheng to result in an above-15 score. Going into the finals, Paseka will be looking to bring order into the positioning of her legs as she lands vaults which have more than one and a half front twists.
#5 Oksana Chusovitana (Uzbekistan)
The oldest Olympian at Rio is no stranger to the winner’s podium when it comes to vaults. At her seventh Olympic games, she is back to representing Uzbekistan – Chusovitina had earlier represented the Soviet Union and Germany. Ranking fifth in the vault finals, with the same clean finishes that she has executed for the past quarter of a century, the 41-year-old scored a total of 14.999.
Unsmiling and brutally focused on the vault, she completed a superb two and half front spins after a front hand vault that drew cheers from the whole stadium. Most of her competitors in this Olympics are the same age as her son, and some even chose to do the very vaults she had invented years earlier.
#6 Shallon Olsen (Canada)
Shallon Olsen became the first ever Canadian woman to perform and stick an Amanar in an international competition.
At only 16, Olsen landed it perfectly only to following it up with a handspring tucked Rudi that earned her a comfortable spot in the finals with a total score of 14.950.
With the whole of Canada rooting for her, Olsen has already won widespread praise for the nearly perfect Amanar landing. This is Olsen’s first major international games after the 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships and the 2015 City of Jesolo Trophy.
#7 Yan Wang (China)
Another 16-year-old to do great things in the Olympics, Yan ranked seventh in the vaults and sixth in the floor exercise. The silver team medal winner at the 2015 World Championships wowed with her seemingly interminable expanded vaults which gave her a score of 14.949.
She is placed just above India’s Dipa Karmakar and is known for utilising her tiny physical form to great effect. The 2015 Asian Games at Hiroshima saw Yan sweep the vault gold – something she did in the Youth Olympics of 2014 as well.
Yan’s balance beam score of 14, however, has become a source of controversy with many speaking out on her behalf saying that she deserved a higher score with no perceptible faults in her routine.
