Kamalpreet Kaur: All you need to know about Indian women’s discus thrower at Tokyo Olympics

Kamalpreet Kaur stands within striking distance of fetching India a historic athletics medal at the Olympic Games after qualifying for the finals with a 64m throw, a brilliant effort. The athlete from Punjab will target podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics when she competes in the Women’s Discus Throw Final on Monday (August 2).

Interestingly, Kamalpreet qualified for the Tokyo Olympics finals after finishing second in the qualification and the athlete from Punjab was only the second among 31 participants to secure direct qualification with a throw of 64m.

The 25-year-old threw a distance of 60.29m in her first attempt, but significantly improved in the second, scoring 63.97, narrowly missing the 64m mark. However, she made up for it in the final attempt, as she threw a staggering throw of 64m, the second best at qualification.

Take a look at Kamalpreet’s journey so far:

• Hailing from Kabarwala village on the Malout-Abohar national highway in Punjab, Kaur was born to a humble farmer family.
• Kaur, who stands at 6’1″, was earlier reluctant to pursue athletics, due to poor financial condition of her family and her mother’s initial opposition but took it up after her farmer father Kuldeep Singh supported her.
• Singh owns 13-acre agricultural land. Initially, Kaur was pursuing shot put, but she switched to discus throw after joining the SAI centre at Badal.
• It was her sports teacher at her school at Badal who initiated here to athletics making her compete in zonal and district level meets in 2011-12.
• Kaur agreed but she decided she will not put additional financial burden on her father, who looked after a joint family.
• She took part in the U-18 national junior championships in 2013 in discus throw and finished second. Kaur joined SAI centre at Badal in 2014 and became national junior champion next year.
• In 2016, she won her first senior national title, claiming gold in the Open Nationals in Lucknow with a throw of 54.25m.
• She kept on winning senior national titles in the next three years before suddenly exploding on the scene early this year, when she shifted her training base to NIS Patiala.
• Kaur threw 65.06m during the Federation Cup in March to break the national record and become the first Indian woman to breach the 65m mark.
• Then in June, she bettered her own national record with a throw of 66.59m during the Indian Grand Prix-4 to be at world number six.
• Kamalpreet qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 finals after finishing second in the qualification as in her final attempt she threw a staggering throw of 64m, the second best at qualification.