Meet Seema Punia, Discus Thrower Who Made Olympic Cut For The Fourth Time

Seema Punia Olympics: Indian discus thrower Seema Punia qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday with a best effort of 63.72m. Defying age she qualified for her fourth Olympics while winning gold on the final day of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala.

As per Athletics Federation of India, she joined the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers as the 12th individual Indian athlete. She went past the 60m mark on four of her five legal throws, going close to the Olympic Qualifying mark of 63.50m with her third effort of 63.18m. Punia breached the Olympic qualifying mark in her fourth try.

Seema Poonia earns #Tokyo2020 qualification with an effort of 63.70m (OQ mark 63.50m) in women discus throw on the last day of Inter State meet in #Patiala

Congrats Seema! pic.twitter.com/RAlFhNaDuj

— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) June 29, 2021

Here's what we know about the veteran discus thrower Seema Punia:

• Seema Punia began her career as an athlete at the age of 11 as a hurdler and a long-jumper
• The 37-year-old discus thrower, who hails from Sonipat, has previously taken part in 2004, 2012, and 2016 editions of the Olympic Games.
• The Haryana-based athlete is a gold medallist of the 2014 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, with a throw of 61.03m, a silver winner in the 2014 Glasgow CWG Commonwealth Games with an effort of 61.61m, a personal best scorer of 64.84m in 2004.
• In 2006, she won a silver, followed by a bronze medal in 2010 at the Commonwealth Games.
• Punia holds the record of becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in shooting at Asian Games.
• She will be the second Indian female athlete to qualify this year’s Olympics, national record holder Kamalpreet Kaur being the first.