CHANDIGARH: After discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur finished a creditable sixth at the Olympics, her family in Punjab's Kabarwala village in Muktsar district said that she gave her best, though a medal eluded her.
The 25-year-old Kaur produced a best throw of 63.70m in a rain-interrupted final to end at sixth and equal 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Krishna Poonia's performance in the 2012 London Olympics.
"She gave her best. However, rains came down at the wrong time and this somewhat upset her rhythm," her father Kuldeep Singh, a farmer, told reporters at his house after the event.
At the same time, he said they were happy with her achievement.
Kaur, who has qualified for the final as second best on Saturday, was never in the running for a medal in the eight rounds of competition which was interrupted by rain for more than an hour.
She had raised hopes of India's elusive athletics medal after finishing second in the qualification round on Saturday with a best throw of 64m.
Since morning, Kaur's family had been busy receiving guests at home.
Villagers and family members had remained glued to TV sets to catch Kaur's action in Tokyo.
Her mother Rajinder Kaur had confined herself in a room and been praying since morning.
During the day, Rajinder had told the media that her daughter rang her up in the morning and told them to pray for her success.
"Sensing that she was a bit nervous on the big day, I tried to make her comfortable and said that the entire country is praying for her success. She said that she would do her best to make the country proud," said Rajinder.
Kuldeep said that to reach the Olympic stage, his daughter had worked very hard.
"Even on days when she would be unwell, she did not leave her practice and continued her light practice," he said.
"I supported her all through and we did not allow financial constraints to come in the way of her dreams."
Kaur's younger brother is pursuing B. Com degree from a college at nearby Malout.
Kaur had told PTI recently that she was earlier reluctant to pursue a career in athletics, considering the poor financial condition of her family and her mother's initial opposition but took it up as her farmer father supported her.