Punjab shot-putter Manpreet Kaur qualifies for Rio

PATIALA: Punjab shot putter Manpreet Kaur created a new national record and also qualified for next year's Rio Olympics at the ongoing 55th National Open Athletics Championship in Kolkata. Manpreet, who is representing Railways at the championship, registered a throw of 17.96 metres with her second attempt to smash the previous record of 17.43m, which was set by another Punjab athlete Harbans Kaur in 1997.The Olympic qualification mark was 17.80m.
"I had the qualification at the back of my mind and so wanted to do well here," Manpreet said. The athlete, whose last international competition was the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said surpassing the 17.96m mark was no big deal. "I can do better," the 25-year-old said.
Hailing from Sahauli village in Patiala, Manpreet is married to Fatehgarh Sahib resident Karamjeet Singh, who has been coaching her for the past seven years. Speaking about her experience of being coached by the man she loves, Manpreet said light heartedly, "Daant zyada padati hain! (He scolds me a lot). However, advantage is that I can share things with him and tell him about the problems I am facing."
By tasting success in Kolkata, Manpreet became the second girl from Punjab to qualify for the Rio Games after long-distance runner Khushbir Kaur, who has already booked her ticket in 20km walk.
Manpreet, who clinched gold in her last nationals as well, is currently employed by Diesel Loco Modernization (DMW), Patiala – a diesel engine manufacturing unit of Indian Railways. The Punjab athlete added that she will practice harder and will try to be at her best during the 2016 Olympics.
"I had taken a long break from the sport when my daughter was born. Now she is four, and during the past 12 months I have been concentrating on my game once again. My dream is to win a medal for the country in the Olympics, but for that I have to get close to the 20m mark. Hopefully it will happen," Manpreet reflected.
Karamjeet had a similar view and agreed that Manpreet will have to improve further in order to win an Olympic medal. "In the women's section, international-level shot putters are winning medals by throwing above the 20m mark. Now, my main aim is to help Manpreet touch that. She has to put in a lot of hard work and improve further to win an Olympic medal," Karamjeet said.