India shot put thrower Kiran Baliyan brings the countrys first medal in Athletics by winning a bronze medal in the womens shot put event at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou on Friday.The 24-year-old athlete achieved her personal best throw of 17.92m at the Indian Grand Prix 5 earlier this month, scored the best throw of 17.36m on her third attempt, and stayed there till the sixth throw.Kiran Baliyan ended a drought in short put after the win. Indias last medal in this category came way back in the inaugural edition of the Asian Games when Barbara Webster won the bronze medal at 1951 New Delhi.List of Indian athletes to win a medal in Women Shotput at Asian Games: 1951: Barbara Webster: Bronze 2023: Kiran Baliyan: Bronze End of list #IndiaAtAsianGames #AGwithIAS #AsianGames2023 https://t.co/BWd4uQmw0B— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) September 29, 2023 Olympic champion Gong Lijiao of China and her fellow countryman Song Jiayuan clinched gold and silver with best throws of 19.58 and 18.92, respectively. Gong Lijiao also came in as the defending champion of the Asian Games.Indias other participant, Manpreet Kaur holds the national record of 18.06m at the domestic circuit, hit the 16.25m mark on her first attempt but could not better it to finish fifth of 11 athletes.Support from government and federation made it possible to win bronze at Asian Games, says Kiran Baliyan.@Media_SAI @Adille1 pic.twitter.com/MefQ8piV8C— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) September 29, 2023 PM Modi congratulates The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi lauded the remarkable performance of the Kiran Baliyan. PM Modi shared a congratulatory post on the microblogging site, X “Indian athletes continue to shine at the Asian Games 2022! A big congratulations to the exceptional Kiran Baliyan for her amazing achievement in the Shot Put event and winning the Bronze Medal. Her success has delighted the entire nation.”Indian athletes continue to shine at the Asian Games 2022!A big congratulations to the exceptional Kiran Baliyan for her amazing achievement in the Shot Put event and winning the Bronze Medal. Her success has delighted the entire nation. pic.twitter.com/EsNQyRzqRB— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 29, 2023 GOIs Union Minister for I&B and Youth Affairs & Sports, Anurag Thakur also congratulated Kiran Baliyan and shared on platform X with a caption reads, “A GREAT START FOR ATHLETICS. Kudos to Kiran Baliyan for winning a bronze medal in the Womens Shot Put event with an impressive throw of 17.36m!Your powerful performance has set a strong tone for a promising journey ahead for #IndianAthletics🇮🇳 at the #AsianGames Congratulations, Kiran! Youve set the bar high, and the nation is proud of you”.A GREAT START FOR ATHLETICS 🥉Kudos to Kiran Baliyan for winning a bronze medal in the Womens Shot Put event with an impressive throw of 17.36m!Your powerful performance has set a strong tone for a promising journey ahead for #IndianAthletics🇮🇳 at the #AsianGames đź’Ş… pic.twitter.com/3JunRw6Irj— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) September 29, 2023
