Manpreet Kaur wins Asian Games shot put bronze in Nagoya with daughter watching
Manpreet Kaur won the bronze medal in the women's shot put at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Friday, with her 15-year-old daughter watching from the stands. She produced a best throw of 17.17m to return to the podium after finishing fourth at last month's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
China's Song Jiayuan took gold with 19.40m and Zhang Linru won silver with 18.14m; Manpreet's 17.17m was enough for third place. Speaking to Sony Sports Network after the event, Manpreet revealed that her daughter was there to watch her produce her bronze medal-winning effort. The 17.17m effort secured the bronze in the final.
Earlier in 2026 Manpreet won the National Inter-State Athletics Championships with a throw of 17.75m, an effort that surpassed the Asian Games qualification standard of 16.25m. She was part of the Indian athletics contingent that trained at the University of Tsukuba near Tokyo in the build-up to the Asian Games. That pre-Games preparation formed part of her competitive build-up for Nagoya.
Manpreet had finished fourth at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a throw of 17.49m, narrowly missing out on a medal. At the 2023 Asian Games she finished fifth with a mark of 16.25m. Her showing in Nagoya represented an improvement on that previous Asian Games result.
A seven-time national champion, Manpreet has more than a decade of experience at the highest level of Indian athletics. She won bronze at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships with a throw of 17.00m. Her personal best stands at 18.06m and she finished sixth at the 2016 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships with a throw of 15.21m.
Manpreet's preparations were supported by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS); she became a TOPS athlete in August 2026. Under TOPS she received assistance for participation in multiple international competitions, including the Asian Athletics Championships and the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, and support for training at the National Coaching Camp. She also received support for the pre-Asian Games training camp at the University of Tsukuba and financial assistance of Rs 25,000 under TOPS and Rs 2,65,678 under the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC).
Her 17.17m in Nagoya was an improvement on the 16.25m she threw at the 2023 Asian Games, and the bronze ended India's wait for a women's shot put medal at the Asian Games while delivering Manpreet her first medal at the event.