Discus hope Kamalpreet Kaur finishes sixth

Kamalpreet Kaur had raised hopes of an elusive athletics medal for India after finishing second in the qualification round with a best throw of 64 metres.

India’s Kamalpreet Kaur finished a creditable sixth in her first Olympics with a best throw of 63.70 metres in a rain-interrupted women’s Discus Throw final at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.

The 25-year-old, who qualified for the final as second-best performer 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.

She had a third round throw of 63.70 metres to end up sixth and equal 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Krishna Poonia’s performance in the 2012 London Olympics.

Throughout the competition, Kaur, who was without her personal coach, looked nervous and short on confidence as she lacked international exposure. The World University Games in 2017 was her lone international competition.

A farmer’s daughter at Punjab’s Kabarwala village, Kaur raised hopes of an elusive athletics medal for India 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 effort of 68.98m, while Kristin Pudenz (66.86m) of Germany and reigning World champion Yaime Perez (65.72m) of Cuba won silver and bronze respectively.

Two-time defending champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia was fourth with a best throw of 65.01m.

TOKYO OLYMPICS