Kamalpreet Kaur fashioned a legacy for herself when she became only the third Indian and second Indian woman to qualify for the final of discus throw at the Olympics. 

The 25-year-old launched the discus to a distance of 64m at her third and final venture to qualify for Women’s Discus Throw at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Engaging in Group B, Kamalpreet began her crusade with a throw of 60.29m. Nothing majestic, but a good start. Her second strive saw her throw 63.97m — an enormous improvement and just 0.03m away from qualification to the final. With different hurlers in dispute not actually in the best of their components, Kamalpreet Kaur’s subsequent toss would have been sufficient to own her to the finals. Be that as it may, she had various thoughts. In her third and last endeavor, she tossed the disk to a careful distance of 64m and straightforwardly qualified for the final. Kamalpreet was the second best discus thrower behind American Valarie Allman. 

But did you know that a few months ago, Kamalpreet Kaur scrutinised her decision of leaving discus and throw and redirect to cricket ? 

In an interview, Kamalpreet revealed how she went into depression during the lockdown last year, and contemplated on leaving discus throw. “I went into depression towards the end of 2020 due to the fact that I was not able to compete in tournaments due to prevailing covid-19 restrictions. I had reached a point wherein I felt like leaving discus throw altogether and focus all my energies on cricket. In fact, I had even left training discus and started practising cricket,” she had said then. 

Cricket was Kamalpreet’s favorite sport as a child, she only took athletics because she thought that there is no tournament for girls or women. “I enjoyed playing cricket since childhood. I played it a lot with my cousins and children nearby in my village. I did not know cricket tournaments happen for girls, or else I would have been a cricketer. I knew district, and state-level tournaments happen in athletics because our physical education teacher in school had mentioned it,” Kamalpreet explained. 

Fortunately, Kamalpreet decided not to leave when some of her senior athletes advised her against doing so, “I talked to some of the more experienced athletes about my decision to leave discus. They advised me to continue playing cricket on the side but not to leave discus throw. It was a natural talent for me, and I had done well in discus, so it made sense not to leave it at this stage,” Kamalpreet clarified on her decision to stick with discus throw.