The Produnova is an artistic gymnastics vault consisting of a front handspring onto the vaulting horse and two front somersaults off it. Under the 2013 Code of Points (artistic gymnastics) the vault has a 7.0 D-score, and is considered the hardest vault performed in women's artistic gymnastics. It is named after Yelena Produnova of Russia, who was the first person to complete it successfully in 1999. This vault is also called the "vault of death" due to its difficulty and likelihood of injury.
Controversy was sparked after Fadwa Mahmoud's first competitive Produnova attempt, where she nearly landed on her neck.
As long as the gymnast lands on her feet first, she will get credit for the vault, and because of the Produnova's massive difficulty value, it is easy to get a high score even with poor execution. There have been calls for the Produnova vault to be banned due to the high level of risk.
In the Code of Points that will come into effect in 2017, the vault has been reduced in value to a D-score of 6.4, with poor landings of it specifically penalised in section 10.4 of the Code. If a gymnast attempts the vault but lands on her feet and any other body part simultaneously, then the second somersault will be regarded as incomplete and the vault will only be credited as a front handspring onto the vault and a single front somersault off it.