Discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur produced one of the best performances by an Indian at the Olympics, though in a qualifying round, as she made it to the final of the Tokyo Games after finishing second here on Saturday.
Kamalpreet Kaur (File photo)
Tokyo: The 25-year-old Kamalpreet, 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. But, veteran Seema Punia made an exit after finishing sixth in qualification A and 16th overall with a below-par best throw of 60.57m.
Sreeshankar’s performance may raise hackles of the AFI, which had warned that it will take action against athletes who do not perform well at the Olympics.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) said that Seema was down with fever on Friday night. National record-holding long jumper M Sreeshankar, who was on verge of missing the Olympics due to dip in form, failed miserably as he finished 13th in qualification B and 25th overall out of 29 competitors with a below-par best effort of 7.69m. Those who touched 8.15m or at least 12 best performers from the two qualification rounds combined made it to the final. The 22-year-old, who had jumped 8.26m in March, was cleared at the last minute by the AFI for the Olympics after he came up with a best effort of 7.48m during a “fitness trial” just days before departure for Tokyo.
Sreeshankar’s performance may raise hackles of the AFI, which had warned that it will take action against athletes who do not perform well at the Olympics.
In discus throw, Kamalpreet began with a 60.29m effort and then improved it to 63.97m before her third throw of 64m. Every competitor gets three throws.
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