India’s Manpreet Kaur clinched a bronze medal in the women’s shot put event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday. She did so with a best throw of 17.17m.
She finished behind gold medalist Jiayuan Song (China) who won gold and Zhang Linru (China) who won silver. India has now won 20 medals at the 2026 Asian Games, with two gold, eight silver and 10 bronze medals.
The bronze adds another medal to Manpreet’s international record. The athlete from Patiala had previously won bronze at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships.
She also competed at the 2023 Asian Games, where she finished fifth in the women’s shot put event.
Manpreet entered the Asian Games with a season’s best of 17.75m, which she achieved while winning the National Inter-State Championships earlier this year. Her personal best stands at 18.06m, recorded in 2022.
She had also competed at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last month, finishing fourth with a throw of 17.49m. Her performance in Aichi-Nagoya therefore gave her another medal at a major continental competition.
Bronze adds to India’s athletics medal haul
Manpreet’s medal came on a busy day for India’s contingent at the Asian Games. She was one of two Indian athletes entered in the women’s shot put final, with Krishna Jayasankar Menon also competing in the event.
India’s campaign had already included a gold medal in women’s cricket, with the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side retaining the Asian Games title. The country had also collected medals across shooting, mixed martial arts, table tennis and other disciplines during the opening days of the competition.
For Manpreet, the bronze represents another significant achievement in a long international career. Her 17.17m effort was not enough to challenge the two Chinese throwers for the top two positions, but it was sufficient to secure India a place on the podium in the women’s shot put at the Asian Games.