AFI Media
New Delhi, August 2: Kamalpreet Kaur finished sixth in the women’s Discus Throw competition in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, with a best throw of 63.70m on Monday evening. In a competition that was interrupted by rain and made the circle slippery, United States of America’s Valerie Allman won gold with a best effort that sent the disc over 68.98m.
While she equaled Krishna Poonia’s sixth-place finish in the women’s Discus Throw in London in 2012, Kamalpreet Kaur was able to register the best throw by an Indian woman in the Olympic Games. Krishna Poonia had a best throw of 63.62m back in 2012. Competing in her maiden Olympic Games, Kamalpreet Kaur would have liked to throw farther.
Kamalpreet Kaur, one of the two athletes who booked their berths in the final by meeting the the qualifying standard of 64.00m, raised the hopes of India’s athletics community. The 25-year-old from Moga had rewritten the National Record at 65.06m in the National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships in Patiala on March 19.
On Monday, she opened with a confident 61.62m but did not find the right elevation to get a good distance with her second throw. After the rain break, she wound herself up to uncork her best throw and be in the top eight to get three more throws. However, she managed 61.37m in her only legal throw in the second half of the competition.
