Here’s why the Produnova vault (done by Dipa Karmakar) is called the ‘Vault of Death’

Here’s why the Produnova vault, attempted by Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar at the Rio Olympics 2016, considered life threatening by experts.

22-year old Dipa Karmakar from Tripura finished fourth at the individual vaults in the Rio Olympic Games (missed the bronze by a small margin). Besides appreciating her efforts, everybody at Rio was also talking about the dangers of attempting the Produnova vault.

The move is considered so difficult that attempting it can increase the judge’s base scores, but failure could literally mean death.

What is Produnova vault?

The Produnova vault is named after Russian gymnast Yelena Produnova (winner of multiple world and Olympic medals, though gold always eluded her), who first executed it in 1999.

In this method, the gymnast sprints at the vault and catapults high enough to flip in the air twice (involves a double somersault).

Is the Produnova Vault Really Dangerous?

There are two forms of Produnova vault – backward double and forward double.

• While the backward double can be quite risky (if not executed correctly, the gymnast’s spine could be injured)
• The forward double is not dangerous.

Dipa Karmakar performed the forward double vault.

But even with the forward double vault, because of two airborne somersaults, the gymnast lands with a very high force; so landing on the neck instead of the feet can cause serious injury.

When Egypt’s Fadwa Mahmoud attempted her very first Produnova, she landed on her face, and missed injuring her neck by a whisker.

So the execution of part of the Produnova vault is extremely crucial.

The greatest challenge of the Produnova is getting enough height. Without the right height and rotational speed, the gymnast won’t get enough time to rotate fully – which could lead to a disastrous landing.

Difficulty Level of the Produnova Vault

Every gymnastic vault is judged on two factors – difficulty and execution.

Produnova vault has a difficulty rating of 7.0 (highest of all vaults). The vault is then judged based on its execution (you can score up to 10 points).

Dipa Karmakar scored 7.0 on difficulty and 8.1 on execution (her landing was not perfect).

As you can see, if your execution of the Produnova vault is bad, you can lose the competition.