Tokyo: In the first positive news for the day, Kamalpreet Kaur has made it to the final round of the women’s discus throw event at the Tokyo Olympics. The 25-year-old Indian threw a distance of 64m to finish in second place in the Qualification Group B to make it to the top-12.
Earlier, Seema Punia, competing in her fourth Olympics, threw her best to a distance of 60.57m to finish sixth in Qualification Group A. Kamalpreet, who threw a record distance of 66.59m at the Indian Grand Prix-4 in Patiala, before coming to Tokyo, was at her usual best.
A 64m long throw lands Kamalpreet Kaur in the Discus Throw FINAL 🥏
The #IND becomes the second athlete after #USA's Valarie Allman to qualify 🤩#Tokyo2020 | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #Athletics
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) July 31, 2021
Throwing alongside the likes of World No.4 Valarie Allman, Kamalpreet showed no nerves breaching the 60-m mark in her first attempt. She cleared 60.29. The first Indian woman to breach the 65-m mark, Kamalpreet bettered her show throwing the discus to 63.97m with a thumping fist in the air.
With the standard set above 63m in the group on the day, the Indian shocked everyone to throw at exactly 64m. American Allman took the top spot in the qualifications with a distance of 66.42m.
#TeamIndia | #Tokyo2020 | #Athletics
Women's Discus Throw Qualification ResultsA superb 6⃣4⃣m throw by #KamalpreetKaur to qualify for the Finals in Group B, while #SeemaPunia bows out, finishing 6th in Group A! #RukengeNahi #EkIndiaTeamIndia #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/7ZwoeX8rWy
— Team India (@WeAreTeamIndia) July 31, 2021
Earlier, Punia started badly with her first attempt being a no-show. She registered 60.57m and 58.93m in her second and third throws respectively to finish at overall 16th. The women’s discus throw final is on August 2.
