Top five Gymnasts who have successfully performed Produnova Vault ft. Dipa Karmakar

Dipa Karmakar has achieved the Produnova Vault twice.

The Produnova Vault or the ‘Vault of Death’ is often referred to as one of the toughest and most dangerous moves in gymnastics. It was first performed by Russian gymnast Yelena Produnova in 1999 and hence named after her. This move is very risky, and even the slightest mistake can cause serious injury to the gymnast.

In the Produnova vault, the athlete begins by running up a vaulting table approximately 25 metres long, with speed gradually increasing, and peaking just before reaching the springboard. The run-up here is critical to generating the required momentum. At the end of the run-up with the gymnasts at full speed, they jump on the springboard and take off.

Also Read: Top five greatest USA gymnasts of all-time

Dipa Karmakar is one of only five women in the world who can successfully land the Produnova vault. 🔥 @WeAreTeamIndia | @DipaKarmakar pic.twitter.com/RJpjNIrgkn

— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) June 21, 2024

The take-off involves a strong push from the legs, using the springboard to convert the forward momentum from the run into upward and rotational energy. This phase requires strong legs and core muscles for an explosive start.

After that, the gymnast has to land on the vaulting table with their hands to perform a front handspring. This is another push-off phase and requires great strength in the arms and shoulders of the athlete. The timing of the push here determines what height the athlete will reach and whether he will have enough time to complete the subsequent steps.

The next step is two quick front-somersaults. The somersaults are performed by tucking the body tightly, ensuring no break in momentum or angular movements. The somersaults have to be quick since there are two to be performed while the athlete has to prepare for a smooth landing during the final phase. For the landing, the athlete will extend their leg to land on their feet ideally. The knees here are to be bent to absorb as much impact as possible and ensure a safe and perfect landing. 

When the most decorated gymnast in Olympic history, Simone Biles, was asked when she was performing the Produnova Vault, she replied, “I’m not trying to die.”

So, what is so special and difficult about it? The speed of the run-up, the power of the core muscles for take-off, the control and awareness of the body while rotating in the air, and finally the ability to absorb the force of the landing and stabilize without stumbling – all of this make the move an incredibly difficult one. A slight mistiming or poor read could result in a life-threatening neck or back injury during the vault.

Because of the difficulty and the risk involved in this, only five gymnasts have completed the Produnova Vault yet. Let’s take a look at the list of gymnasts who have successfully performed the Produnova Vault.

Also Read: Top five greatest Indian gymnasts of all-time

5. Oksana Alexandrovna Chusovitina

Chusovitina is the most recent entrant on the list. She successfully performed the Produnova vault in 2016 at the age of 41. She did so while representing Uzbekistan, the fifth team/country she represented in her career. 

Chusovitina is the only gymnast, one of eight female and 18 overall athletes, to have competed in eight editions of the Summer Games. She won a gold medal representing the United States in the team event at the 1992 Barcelona Games and a silver medal as a German athlete in the vault event at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Chustovitina has also competed in 16 different World Championships, winning a total of 11 medals (three gold, four silver, and four bronze). She has five different eponymous skills in the Code of Points.

4. Dipa Karmakar

Dipa Karmakar is perhaps India’s greatest gymnast. She is one of the three athletes to have completed the Produnova vault more than once. She achieved the feat first during her historic bronze medal-winning performance at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. To her, the Produnova vault and the medal were a fight against the inequality between Indian male and female athletes.

She did it again in the 2016 Rio Olympics while achieving the best-ever finish by an Indian gymnast in the Summer Games. She finished fourth, just 0.15 points behind the bronze medal winner.

Also Read: Top five achievements of gymnast Dipa Karmakar

3. Fadwa Mohamed

Fadwa is a retired Egyptian athlete. She was the third gymnast to successfully complete the Produnova Vault while competing in the 2014 African Championships. Although successful, her attempt was the most unclean of all. Her landing was not as comfortable as others, and she stumbled twice before finally finding her feet to complete the move.

2. Yamilet Pena

The now 31-year-old Dominican Republic gymnast became the second person ever to complete the Produnova vault when she successfully landed it at the 2011 World Championships. With the successful vault, she qualified for the final as the third-best gymnast. However, she failed to return with a medal from the World Championships after another Produnova attempt (this time in the final) saw her land on her back.

Fortunately for the Dominican Republic, she was unhurt in the process, but she did lose the chance to win a medal. She finished last in the final.

1. Yelena Produnova

The first gymnast to complete the vault was Yelena Produnova in 1999. The Produnova Vault got its name from the Russian athlete. She has two Olympic medals, both coming in the 2000 Sydney Games. She won the silver medal in the team gymnastics event and the bronze medal in the balance beam event.

She performed her first successful Produnova Vault in the 1999 Summer Universiade in Palma de Mallorca (ESP) and aced it with the most comfortable landing. Produnova has completed the vault multiple other times as well, but her landings always resulted in squats, and hence, were not clean. Interestingly, Produnova originated the move after her coach made a bet against her that she couldn’t do something like that.

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