Tokyo: Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur finished a creditable sixth in her first Olympics with the best throw of 63.70m in a rain-interrupted final on Monday.Also Read – India Discus Thrower Kamalpreet Kaur Handed Three-Year Ban For Doping
In her first attempt, Kamalpreet managed to hit a 61.62m throw, however, she was shown red in her second attempt. The 25-year-old bounce back strongly with a 63.70m throw to earn three more chances in the next round where she failed to create any impact. Also Read – Neeraj Chopra Reveals Conditions of Ground After Clinching Sliver Medal at World Athletic Championships
The 25-year-old Kaur, who has qualified for the final as second-best on Saturday, was never in the running for a medal in the eight rounds of competition which was interrupted by rain for more than an hour. Also Read – Neeraj Chopra Wins Gold: Twitterverse Shower Praise As Tokyo Olympic Medallist Reigns Supreme At Kuortane Games, See Tweets
Throughout the competition, Kaur, who was without her personal coach, looked nervous and short of confidence as she lacked international exposure. She has taken part in World University Games in 2017, her lone international competition.
A farmer’s daughter at Punjab’s Kabarwala village, Kaur had raised hopes of India’s elusive athletics medal after finishing second in the qualification round on Saturday with a best throw of 64m.
American Valarie Allman took the gold with a first round throw of 68.98m while Kristin Pudenz (66.86m) of Germany and reigning world champion Yaime Perez (65.72m) of Cuba won the silver and bronze respectively.
Two-time defending champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia was fourth with a best throw of 65.01m.
Meanwhile, Kamalpreet made her Olympic debut in 2004 in Athens where she had the best throw of 60.64m. In the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, she had disappointing performances of 61.91m and 57.58m. Earlier, in the qualification round, 25-year-old Kaur, competing in qualification B, sent the discus to a distance of 64m in her third and final attempt to be one of the only two automatic qualifiers for the final round.
(With PTI Inputs)