India’s star discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur produced one of the best performances by an Indian in the Olympics, though in a qualifying round, as she made it to the finals of the ongoing Games after finishing second here on Saturday.

The 25-year-old Kaur, 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 round, the other being American Valarie Allman (66.42m). The final will held on August 2.

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Who is Kamalpreet Kaur?

Coming from Badal in Punjab, Kamalpreet Kaur first made national headlines when she sent the discus 65.06m far – a National Record in the sport for women. This got her a direct qualification to the Tokyo Olympics during the 24th Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships held at Patiala. With the throw Kaur became the first Indian woman to breach the 65m mark. She extended her record to 66.59m at the Indian Grand Prix-4. 

Kaur’s journey with the disc started when a physical education instructor at school asked her to participate in the event at an inter-school level. With a strong physique, the 25-year-old gradually became a U-18 and U-20 national champion. 

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She finished sixth during the 29th World University Games in 2017. Kaur also represented India at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships held in Doha. Her 55.59m throw helped her finish fifth. 

On Saturday, Kamalpreet Kaur ended ahead of defending gold-medallist Sandra Perkovic (63.75m) of Croatia and reigning world champion Yaime Perez (63.18) of Cuba. Perkovic qualified at third and Perez at seventh.

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.

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Kaur began with a 60.29m effort and then improved it to 63.97m before her third throw of 64m. Every competitor gets three throws.

Those who touch 64m or at least 12 best performers in the two qualifying rounds advance to the final.

Punia, who had booked a last-minute Olympics berth, was way below her season and personal best marks. She fouled her first throw and had 60.57m and 58.93m in her next two attempts to make an exit from what would be her last Olympics.

The 38-year-old Haryana athlete had made it to the Olympics on the day of qualification deadline with a throw of 63.72m during the National Inter-State Championships in Patiala on June 29.

She has a personal best of 64.84m, a performance she produced way back in 2004.

She returned to action only this season after appearing for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta where she won a bronze.