India discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur qualified for the Tokyo Olympics finals after finishing second in the women’s discus throw qualification event at Olympic Stadium on Saturday (July 31).
Meanwhile, Kamalpreet’s compatriot and veteran athlete Seema Punia failed to qualify for the finals.
Kamalpreet Kaur started in Group B of the qualification round. The discus thrower did not enjoy a great start after registering a throw of 60.29m in her first attempt.
Kaur broke the national record twice, first in the Federation Cup in March when she became the first Indian woman to go over 65m and later in the Indian Grand Prix-4 where she bettered it to 66.59m, which carried her to the sixth spot in the World list this year.
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Kamalpreet Kaur bounced back well and recorded a 63.97m throw in her second attempt. Her second throw was just 0.03m short of a straight qualification into the final.
The qualification mark for the final was set at 64.00m. The 25-year-old, left nothing to chance on her third and final attempt as she registered a throw of exactly 64.00m to qualify for the title round.
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Kamalpreet Kaur’s third throw, in which she qualified for the final, saw her rank second among 31 competing women in the qualifiers. USA’s Valarie Allman was first with a throw of 66.42m. Only Kamalpreet Kaur and Valarie Allman got straight qualification as they either touched or breached the 64.00m mark.
All eyes will be on Kamalpreet Kaur again on August 2 when she takes the field in the final.
(For more updates stay tuned to DNP India)
