Kiran Baliyan: Traffic policeman’s daughter who grew to become shot putter accidentally

By PTI

HANGZHOU: The daughter of a visitors police head constable in Meerut, Kiran Baliyan was an unintentional shot putter as her title was entered in a junior match by mistake 9 years in the past.

On Friday, Baliyan grew to become the primary Indian girl to win an Asian Games medal in shot put in 72 years.

The 24-year-old Baliyan hurled the iron ball to a distance of 17.36m in her third try to open India’s medal account on the opening day of the athletics competitors on the Hangzhou showpiece.

Baliyan thus grew to become solely the second Indian to win a medal in girls’s shot put within the Asian Games after Barbara Webster, an Anglo-Indian from then Bombay, received a bronze within the inaugural version in New Delhi in 1951.

“I am from Meerut. My father is a traffic police head constable there and my mother is just a homemaker. I have a brother and a small dog also and I love it very much,” she mentioned after successful the bronze. When I used to be younger, I used to be not into any particular sport however I performed many sports activities similar to that. I even did javelin throw. But one thing humorous — and momentous — occurred in 2014 when Baliyan was compelled to participate in a shot put occasion in her hometown. In 2014, at a North Zone competitors at DPS School in Meerut, my title was entered by mistake as a substitute of one other lady and I took half. There had been simply three ladies and I completed third. I began my profession from there,” she mentioned with a hearty chortle.

Her childhood coach was Robin Singh from Meerut, and he or she is at present coaching at NIS Patiala below Prabir Singh.

“It was not that I was interested in shot put from the beginning. I played many games and used to go to the stadium. That was in 2014,” mentioned Baliyan, whose preliminary coaching venue was Kailash Prakash Stadium in Meerut.

On Friday, she knew that her second-round throw of 16.84m could be sufficient for her to win a bronze. In reality, the fourth-place finisher Jian Chen-Xin of China had a finest throw of 16.61m for the day.

Baliyan’s compatriot Manpreet Kaur, who holds the nationwide report of 18.06m, was fifth with a throw of 16.25m.

ALSO READ | Shot putter Kiran Baliyan wins India’s first athletics medal in Asian Games

Baliyan mentioned she knew she would win a medal after her second try.

“My medal was confirmed in the second throw. I am competing in front of a big crowd and it is the Asian Games, and so naturally, I was a bit nervous but there was no pressure regarding my performance,” she mentioned.

Baliyan’s first nationwide competitors was in 2015 on the National U18 Championships in Ranchi the place she completed sixth with a throw of 12.49m. She then received the nationwide U-20 Championships in 2018 with a throw of 15.23m.

The identical 12 months, she received the South Asian U-20 Championships in Colombo. She received gold within the Khelo India University Games in 2020. Her first senior nationwide title was within the Federation Cup in Patiala in 2021 the place she threw 16.45m.

Baliyan first crossed 17m as she received gold within the 2022 National Games in Gujarat with a throw of 17.14m. She took the gold once more within the National Inter-State Championships in June this 12 months, with 17.17m earlier than coming together with her season’s and private better of 17.92m on the Indian Grand Prix 5 in Chandigarh on September 10.

HANGZHOU: The daughter of a visitors police head constable in Meerut, Kiran Baliyan was an unintentional shot putter as her title was entered in a junior match by mistake 9 years in the past.

On Friday, Baliyan grew to become the primary Indian girl to win an Asian Games medal in shot put in 72 years.

The 24-year-old Baliyan hurled the iron ball to a distance of 17.36m in her third try to open India’s medal account on the opening day of the athletics competitors on the Hangzhou showpiece.googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

Baliyan thus grew to become solely the second Indian to win a medal in girls’s shot put within the Asian Games after Barbara Webster, an Anglo-Indian from then Bombay, received a bronze within the inaugural version in New Delhi in 1951.

“I am from Meerut. My father is a traffic police head constable there and my mother is just a homemaker. I have a brother and a small dog also and I love it very much,” she mentioned after successful the bronze. When I used to be younger, I used to be not into any particular sport however I performed many sports activities similar to that. I even did javelin throw. But one thing humorous — and momentous — occurred in 2014 when Baliyan was compelled to participate in a shot put occasion in her hometown. In 2014, at a North Zone competitors at DPS School in Meerut, my title was entered by mistake as a substitute of one other lady and I took half. There had been simply three ladies and I completed third. I began my profession from there,” she mentioned with a hearty chortle.

Her childhood coach was Robin Singh from Meerut, and he or she is at present coaching at NIS Patiala below Prabir Singh.

“It was not that I was interested in shot put from the beginning. I played many games and used to go to the stadium. That was in 2014,” mentioned Baliyan, whose preliminary coaching venue was Kailash Prakash Stadium in Meerut.

On Friday, she knew that her second-round throw of 16.84m could be sufficient for her to win a bronze. In reality, the fourth-place finisher Jian Chen-Xin of China had a finest throw of 16.61m for the day.

Baliyan’s compatriot Manpreet Kaur, who holds the nationwide report of 18.06m, was fifth with a throw of 16.25m.

ALSO READ | Shot putter Kiran Baliyan wins India’s first athletics medal in Asian Games

Baliyan mentioned she knew she would win a medal after her second try.

“My medal was confirmed in the second throw. I am competing in front of a big crowd and it is the Asian Games, and so naturally, I was a bit nervous but there was no pressure regarding my performance,” she mentioned.

Baliyan’s first nationwide competitors was in 2015 on the National U18 Championships in Ranchi the place she completed sixth with a throw of 12.49m. She then received the nationwide U-20 Championships in 2018 with a throw of 15.23m.

The identical 12 months, she received the South Asian U-20 Championships in Colombo. She received gold within the Khelo India University Games in 2020. Her first senior nationwide title was within the Federation Cup in Patiala in 2021 the place she threw 16.45m.

Baliyan first crossed 17m as she received gold within the 2022 National Games in Gujarat with a throw of 17.14m. She took the gold once more within the National Inter-State Championships in June this 12 months, with 17.17m earlier than coming together with her season’s and private better of 17.92m on the Indian Grand Prix 5 in Chandigarh on September 10.