Manpreet Kaur takes bronze in women's shot put at Asian Games 2026

India’s Manpreet Kaur secured the bronze medal in the women’s shot put final at the Asian Games 2026 held at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Friday, September 25, with a best throw of 17.17m on her fourth attempt. China’s Jiayuan Song won gold with 19.40m and Linru Zhang claimed silver with 18.14m.

The 36-year-old Kaur finished third in a final that produced a Chinese one-two on the podium. Song’s winning mark arrived on her second attempt, while Zhang’s best of 18.14m left her clear of the field for silver. Kaur’s medal is her first at the Asian Games and came in the Aichi-Nagoya staging of the event.

Kaur opened the final with a 16.32m throw and followed with 16.41m on her second attempt. Her third attempt measured 16.80m before she crossed the 17m barrier with a 17.17m effort on attempt four, which secured the bronze. She recorded 16.75m on her fifth attempt and registered a foul on her final throw.

Jiayuan Song produced a 19.40m effort on her second attempt to take the title, while Linru Zhang’s best mark of 18.14m earned her the silver medal. Song’s podium finish at Nagoya continued her run of medals at the Asian Games, following a silver at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.

The Ambala native arrives at Nagoya with recent continental and multi-sport experience: she won bronze at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships with a best throw of 17m. At the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games she finished fifth with 16.25m, and she placed fourth at the 2026 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 17.49m.

Kaur’s bronze is India’s third-ever women’s shot put medal at the Asian Games. The other two Indian medallists in the event are Barbara Webster, who won a medal at the 1951 New Delhi Games, and Kiran Baliyan, who took bronze at the Hangzhou Games.