Kiran Baliyan wins bronze in shotput

India’s Kiran Baliyan won a bronze medal in the women’s shot put event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Friday. It was India’s first medal in athletics at the Asian Games 2023. The 24-year-old Indian athlete, who achieved her personal best of 17.92m at the Indian Grand Prix 5 earlier this month, hurled a 17.36m throw on her third attempt and stayed there till the end of six throws. India’s last medal in the women’s shot put came way back in the inaugural edition at 1951 New Delhi when Barbara Webster won the bronze medal. Olympic champion Gong Lijiao of China and her compatriot Song Jiayuan clinched gold and silver with best throws of 19.58 and 18.92, respectively. Gong Lijiao also came in as the defending Asian Games champion. Manpreet Kaur, who holds the Indian national record of 18.06m, hit the 16.25m mark on her first attempt but could not better it to finish fifth in the field of 11 athletes.