Kamalpreet Kaur has the opportunity of fetching India a historic athletics medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after qualifying for the finals of the women’s Discus throw event with a 64m effort.
The 25-year-old was ahead of defending gold-medallist Sandra Perkovic (63.75m) of Croatia and reigning world champion Yaime Perez (63.18) of Cuba. She was one of the only two automatic qualifiers for the final round to be held on Monday, August 2, the other being American Valarie Allman (66.42m).
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 rise to world No 6 in the rankings.
Here’s the list of athletes who qualified for the women’s Discus throw final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics:
| Rank | Name | Position | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA - ALLMAN Valarie | 1 | 66.42 |
| 2 | IND - KAUR Kamalpreet | 2 | 64.00 |
| 3 | CRO - PERKOVIC Sandra | 1 | 63.75 |
| 4 | GER - PUDENZ Kristin | 2 | 63.73 |
| 5 | ITA - OSAKUE Daisy | 3 | 63.66 |
| 6 | GER - STEINACKER Marike | 4 | 63.22 |
| 7 | CUB - PEREZ Yaime | 5 | 63.18 |
| 8 | POR - CA Liliana | 6 | 62.85 |
| 9 | CHN - CHEN Yang | 7 | 62.72 |
| 10 | GER - VITA Claudine | 8 | 62.46 |
| 11 | JAM - LAWRENCE Shadae | 3 | 62.27 |
| 12 | BRA - da SILVA Izabela | 9 | 61.52 |
Kaur will take confidence from the fact that the throw that booked her spot in the final was well short of her season best. In June this year, she had recorded a throw of 66.59m in Patiala. Among the 12 finalists for the women’s Discus throw event at the Tokyo Olympics, Kaur’s season best fifth. Heading into the final, she will be hopeful of crossing that mark in order to have a chance of getting on the podium.
Here’s a look at the season best results of the athletes who qualified for the women’s Discus throw final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics:
| Rank | Mark | Competitor | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 70.01 | Valarie ALLMAN | Hayward Field, Eugene, OR (USA) | 18 JUN 2021 |
| 3 | 68.99 | Yaimé PÉREZ | Estadio Panamericano, La Habana (CUB) | 22 MAY 2021 |
| 4 | 68.31 | Sandra PERKOVIĆ | Stadio Luigi Ridolfi, Firenze (ITA) | 10 JUN 2021 |
| 5 | 67.05 | Shadae LAWRENCE | Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, AZ (USA) | 22 MAY 2021 |
| 6 | 66.59 | Kamalpreet KAUR | Patiala (IND) | 21 JUN 2021 |
| 7 | 66.40 | Liliana CÁ | Centro Nacional de Lançamentos, Leiria (POR) | 06 MAR 2021 |
| 8 | 66.31 | Kristin PUDENZ | Werferzentrum Brandberge, Halle (GER) | 15 MAY 2021 |
| 10 | 65.14 | Yang CHEN | Chongqing (CHN) | 25 JUN 2021 |
| 15 | 64.25 | Claudine VITA | Jahnstadion, Neubrandenburg (GER) | 22 MAY 2021 |
| 16 | 64.03 | Marike STEINACKER | Werferzentrum Brandberge, Halle (GER) | 15 MAY 2021 |
| 19 | 63.66 | Daisy OSAKUE | Olympic Stadium, Tokyo (JPN) | 31 JUL 2021 |
| 35 | 62.18 | Izabela DA SILVA | Estadio Alberto Spencer Herrera, Guayaquil (ECU) | 29 MAY 2021 |
Also read – Interview: Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur on her journey to Olympics, dream to play cricket and more