It doesn't happen often. On Sunday night, many Indians stayed up late to watch a sport that some of them might never have watched before. It was 22-year-old Dipa Karmakar's historic debut at the Olympics, the first Indian woman gymnast at the Games.
Around midnight, Karmakar performed twice in quick succession on the vault apparatus. In her first attempt, she executed the Produnova, one of the most dangerous gymnastics vaults, completed successfully by only five gymnasts in the world. Karmakar is one of the few who can perform this vault and people had stayed up in anticipation.
Except the official telecast of the Games never showed the Produnova. It showed Karmakar's second attempt, where she performed the Tsukahara vault. And people, including a certain Amitabh Bachchan, were understandably furious.
In all fairness, it wasn't the fault of Star Sports. As knowledgable people tried to point out, the channel could only broadcast the feed it got.
Karmakar ultimately finished eighth in qualification and became the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics finals,a hugely historic feat.
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