Nadia wants Dipa to improve other vaults

NEW DELHI: Dipa Karmakar may have missed the medal by a whisker at the Rio Olympics, but her performance has put gymnastics in the spotlight in India.

Karmakar won hearts with her successful attempts to perform the dangerous Produnova vault at Rio Games. However, India’s teen gymnast sensation was floored when the legendary Nadia Comaneci lauded Karmakar’s fourth-place finish at Rio and also gave her some tips on improving the Produnova.

“She (Nadia) gave recognition to gymnastics across the globe. She had made it 10 out of 10 in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. For all of us in gymnastics, Nadia is God. And I got a chance to sit and talk to her. She suggested that if I do certain changes in my Produnova vault, it will be better. She made good comments and I was overwhelmed,” Karmakar was quoted as saying on Monday.

Comaneci said Karmakar needs to just work on finer details in her vaults. “She was nice to talk to, and something interesting happened during our conversation. I told her that she has another vault to do (apart from Produnova) which she needs to improve and make it perfect ,” the Romanian, was quoted as saying.