CHENNAI: Every now and then, there comes a moment in a sportsperson’s life when providence fiddles with destiny. It’s that moment when the career takes a decisive turn and throws you into the orbit of fame, unexpectedly. Something Kamalpreet Kaur realized when she took that arch of weightlessness, anxiety and delirium when the discus touched 65.06m during the Federation Cup Athletics Nationals in Patiala on Friday. That was her first throw and only legitimate throw of the event. Kamalpreet couldn’t believe it. Umeed to thi kyunki ummeed mein hi duniya kayam rahta hai. (I had hope. It’s on the hope that the world revolves). So yes I expected to throw better but this distance is unbelievable. This is the fourth-best in the world this season and would have secured a fourth-place finish at the Rio Olympics.
“I had thrown around 61-62m all my life,” she told this daily from Patiala. “My personal best has been 62m. When the discus touched the 65m-mark, I was thrilled and nervous at the same time. I couldn’t believe it.” She was so nervous that she couldn’t take the rest of the throws properly. “I was nervous and I wanted to cross 65m and touch 66m. That's why I fouled.” She skipped her third attempt after multiple Asian and Commonwealth Games medallist Seema Punia, who finished behind Kamalpreet with a decent throw of 62.64m, gave her a suggestion.
“She told me to take a break and try again,” she said. No woman has ever breached the 65m mark in the country. The last national record was etched against the name of Krishna Poonia at 64.76m. The 25-year-old’s record was enough to breach the 63.50m Olympic qualifying mark as well. For a thrower who once planned to give up the sport when she failed to qualify for the Asian Games in 2018. It’s a moment that crushed her. “I was on verge of giving up the sport,” she said. However, after a good performance just a month later, she changed her mind.
“Suddenly in a Railways meet, I threw one metre more than the inter-state in 2018 and that made me think,” she said. “I felt I could do more and started working on it.” The spark to reignite motivation took a while.
“Here, I am back.”
Kamalpreet, coached by Rakhi Tyagi, practices in her hometown near Sri Mukteswar Sahab in Punjab. “I live in a joint family and everyone supports me,” said the Railways athlete, who has been practicing in Patiala for the time being. “For the last couple of years, I have been practicing very hard to perform.”
Though she loved cricket, she took up this sport because of her body structure.
“After assessing my body structure – tall and well-built – coaches suggested that I should take up throws,” she said. “I love sports and it keeps me going.” Kamalpreet’s performance overshadowed the women’s 200m show. Assam’s Hima Das clocked 23.10 seconds to upstage Tamil Nadu’s S Dhanalakshmi (23.39) to create a new meet record. Just a day ago, Dhanalakshmi beat Hima with a meet record in the heats. Archana Suseendran was third with 23.60s.
Men: Hammer throw: 1. Gurmeet (PNB) 69.97m, 2. Jaswinder (PNB) 63.22m, 3. Taranveer (PNB) 62.75m. Triple jump: 1. Karthik (KER), 16.73m, 2. Abdulla (KER) 16.59m, 3. Eldhose (KER) 16.53m. 400m hurdles: 1. Dharun (TN) 0:50.16, 2. Santhosh (TN) 0:51.49, 3. Sathish (TN) 0:52.11. 200m: Elakkiyadasan (TN) 0:21.19, 2. Akshay (DEL) 0:21.27, 3. Vignesh (TN) 0:21.57. 5000m: 1. Amit (RAJ) 14:05.30, 2. Abhishek (UP) 14:08.59, 3. Puneet (HAR) 14:08.80.
Women: Discus throw: 1. Kamal (PNB) 65.06m, 2. Seema (UP) 62.64m, 3. Sonal (Delhi) 52.11m. 400m hurdles: 1. Vithya (TN) 0:59.59, 2. Nanhi (HAR) 0:59.94, 3.Salini (KER) 1:00.57. 200m: 1. Hima (Assam) 0:23.21, 2. Dhanalakshmi (TN) 0:23.39, 3. Archana (TN) 0:23.60. 5000m: 1. Parul (UP) 16:03.23, 2.Sanjivani (Maharashtra) 16:08.36, 3. Komal (Maharashtra) 16:18.48.