India's Manpreet Kaur competes in the women's shot put competition during the 20th Asian Games, in Nagoya, Japan, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (PTI Photo)Nearly a decade after she was first banned following a positive dope test, 36-year-old Manpreet Kaur won a shot put bronze, her first medal at the continental games. Manpreet’s 17.17 metre throw was bettered by the other podium finishers, the Chinese duo of Song Jiyuan (19.40m) and Zhang Linru (18.14m), but winning the Asian Games medal was special because her 14-year-old daughter Jasnoor and husband-and-coach Karamjeet Singh were watching from the stands.“The biggest delight is seeing my daughter and husband cheering for me from the stands,” Manpreet told The Indian Express. (left) Manpreet Kaur with daughter Jasnoor Kaur; (right) Manpreet Kaur with daughter Jasnoor Kaur and husband Karamjeet Singh. (Images via special arrangement)Click here to read our Asian Games full coverageLife has been one battle after another for Manpreet, but she took it in her stride to emerge as an Asian Games medalist in the winter of her career. The Haryana athlete became only the third Indian woman after Barbara Webster (1951) and Kiran Baliyan (2023) to win a medal in shot put at the Asian Games.Her father passed away when she was just 12. “Losing my father at the age of 12 was tough for me. My mother has been paralysed since 2005,” Manpreet said.A C-section delivery made it tough for her to return to competition.“Since it was a C-section, the recovery took time. On return to training, the main problem was that I could not do weight training for a long time. But my father-in-law, Bhupinder Singh, would always encourage me. Earlier, I used to throw with the glide technique but then my husband suggested that I try the rotational technique as my height is less. As I regained my upper body strength, it worked well for me,“ Manpreet said.Story continues below this adThen came the dope ban. Manpreet blames it on contaminated supplements. “While contamination and other factors are there, an athlete cannot run from the responsibility. The ban was a tough phase for me but my mother-in-law Sukhwant Kaur would tell me to recite Sukhmani path (devotional recital) and it helped me mentally,” Manpreet said.A young Manpreet grew up in Sahauli village, where her farming family was based. She started off as a sprinter. Her cousin Jagjeet Singh Randhawa is the one who inspired her to take up track and field.“Manpreet started as a sprinter, and she was very explosive. After six months, she suffered a hairline foot fracture. My brother’s wife Dimi Singh, who is an international shot putter, asked Manpreet to switch events. Her first standing throw was very good and we decided to train her in shot put,” Randhawa, an Asian Grand Prix bronze medalist in discus throw, said.Manpreet won her first national medal in 2006 at the junior nationals in Chennai, followed by a silver at the National Games in Guwahati in 2007. She also won a gold at the South Asian Junior Championships in Colombo.Story continues below this adPost 2014, Manpreet would cross the 17-metre mark and set the national record of 17.96 metres. She bettered the mark to 18.86 metres at the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar. But following the doping ban, this mark was erased.But the bronze at the Asian Games has given her a lease of life. “In recent months, I have benefited from training under Parveer Singh. We have worked on correcting my elbow position, apart from the starting step and centre foot placement, which has helped me in recent months,” Manpreet said.Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More Tags:Asian Games