Kamalpreet Kaur finishes 6th in discus throw final, misses out on medal

Hyderabad: Team India's another bright medal prospect ended her campaign without winning one as Kamalpreet Kaur finished 6th in the women's discus throw final. Although she made it to the Top 8 with her best throw going as far as 63.70 M. USA's accidental Olympian, Valarie Allman, bagged gold by throwing the longest of 68.98 M.

The final began with a total of 12 athletes out of which only eight went to Round 4. China's Chen Yang, Brazil's Izabela Day Silva, Italy's Daisy Osakue, and Germany's Claudia Vita bowed out of the final after Round 3 as they failed to throw a minimum of 62.02, which was required to make it to the Top 8.

As Kaur finished 6th, she made it to the next round. Rain, however, played spoilsport, making the court slippery. Athletes slipped and they also couldn't put their foot within the throwing circle. USA's ex-dancer and accidental Olympian, Valarie Allman, threw her best of 68.98 M in her very first attempt to secure the elusive gold.

The fight for silver went down among Yaime Perez and Kristina Pudinz with Pudinz giving her all. She threw her personal best of 66.86M which gave her the silver.

The weather did no good to Kamalpreet's medal hopes as three of her throws were adjudged as foul. As this was her first Olympics, Kaur finished second in the qualifying stage with her best being 64 M. Valarie Allman topped the qualifying stage with 66.42M while Kaur finished second with 64M.

With a great learning experience in Tokyo, Kamalpreet will now look to secure a medal at the Paris Olympics, which is just three years away.