What’s the story?
26-year-old Indian shot putter Manpreet Kaur broke her own national record, registering a throw of 18.86 m at the Asian Grand Prix in China to qualify for the IAAF World Championship, to be held in August.
“Today’s performance proves that I am improving. My target this year is to cross the 19-metre mark. This is the first competition of the season and I am sure I will get better as the season progresses,” said Kaur after her victory.
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Also Read: From losing her father at age 13 to qualifying for The Olympics- the story of Manpreet Kaur
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Kaur was optimistic about bettering her current record, “I can only get better, right? I know people will say that this is the first event of the season, but for me, the realistic target is 19. If I can keep hitting 19 consistently, then a World Championship medal isn't too far.”
In case you did not know...
The shot putter from Ambala had to face major obstacles in her rise to success. Kaur’s father, who was a farmer, passed away when she was 13 years of age while her mother was paralysed.
She found support and developed an interest in athletics through her brothers, and once the decision to take up athletics was made, it was her brother who helped Kaur choose the right sport for her career.
Manpreet eventually went on to win the gold medal in the +75 kg weightlifting category by lifting an overall weight of 189 kg in the National weightlifting championship and also holds the Indian national record of 17.96m in women's shot put.
The heart of the matter
The Asian Grand Prix in Jinhua is the first of a three-leg series with the next round of competitions to be held at Jinxiang and Chinese Taipei. Manpreet’s best throw of 18.86 m in the season-opening international event was almost one meter more than her earlier national record of 17.96 m that she had set in 2015.
The 26-year-old athlete began the competition with a 16.69 m and then tossed the iron ball to 18.03 m in her third round, before breaking her own record in the fourth throw.
What’s next?
With this performance, Manpreet qualified for the IAAF World Championships to be held in August in London. The qualification mark in the women’s shot put category for the World Championship is 17.75 meters.
Author’s Take
The last year or so has been a successful one for Indian women athletes, with Dipa Karmakar successfully completing the Prudonova vault and winning hearts, Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu winning a silver and bronze respectively at the Rio Olympics.
Manpreet Kaur is the next in line to be a success on the world stage and her Asian Grand Prix victory will give her the confidence to win more laurels in bigger events.
