36-year-old shot putter Manpreet Kaur claimed her maiden Asian Games 2026 medal with her best throw of 17.17m. Manpreet's sixth attempt sealed a bronze medal finish.
China's Jianyuan's season best throw of 19.40m earned her a gold medal. It was a double podium for China as Linru Zhang secured a silver medal with 18.14m throw.
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Another Indian at the event was Krishna Jayasankar Menon. She finished fifth with a 16.57m throw.
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Manpreet won the bronze medal with her 15-year-old daughter in the stands in Nagoya. This was Manpreet's first medal at a major event.
"Yes, finally I have been redeemed by winning this medal. I have struggled a lot," she said.
"Next target is Asian Championship and World Championship next year. And then there are Olympics Games. So, the target will be the same, step by step."
Earlier this year, she produced a throw of 17.49m but missed the bronze medal by a whisker as she finished fourth. In the previous edition of Asian Games, she had finished fifth with a 16.25m throw. Her best throw of 2026 (17.75m) came in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships.
Manpreet 3rd to win Asiad shot put medal
Manpreet is India's third women’s shot putter to win an Asian medal. In 1951, Barbara Webster, an Anglo-Indian from Mumbai (them Bombay), won a bronze medal. More than seven decades later, in 2023, Kiran Baliyan had won a bronze medal.
Manpreet is a seven-time national champion. She had participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics where her best throw of 17.06m in the qualification could not secure her a spot in the final. She finished 23rd in the qualification round which featured 36 athletes.