Patiala’s NSNIS trained Kamalpreet Kaur to participate in Tokyo Olympics
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Kamalpreet Kaur a 25-year-old athlete, born in March 1996 in Sri Muktsar Sahib District, Punjab. She has been training and preparing for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 at Sports Authority of India (SAI) Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) in Patiala, since the early days of her athletic career.
Kamalpreet Kaur goes down in the history as she became the 1st Indian Women’s athlete to breach the 65m mark (65.06m) in discus throw at 24th Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships at Patiala. She also broke the National record as she threw 63.50m, also breaking the Olympic qualification record at the same time. As part of Kamalpreet’s preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at SAI NSNIS Patiala she was, “working with her Coach Rakhi Tyagi on maintaining a good form and primarily focus on her efficiency with the technique and increase her throwing speed in the process”.
Speaking of the lockdown due to the COVID 19 pandemic, her preparation for the games were hammered a bit as, quote “I was fully prepared for the qualification tournament in 2020 (before the postponement). But I was determined to work hard and qualify for my maiden Olympic Games, so I worked on my physical fitness, stamina, push-ups, sit-ups, squats etc., even during the lockdown for the time being. As the lockdown was lifted and we were allowed to access the weight training equipment’s and other wonderful facilities available at SAI NSNIS Patiala”.
Tokyo 2020 will be my first Olympic event and in terms of motivation, “it was normal for me to feel a bit more nervous than usual. I actually missed going to the ground or go to the gym and lift a few weights to accomplish something for the day. But I kept telling myself that a little more won’t harm and eventually I started feeling more and more confident about my approach towards winning a medal at the Olympic Games”.
Apart from playing sports, Kamalpreet loves watching football as her favorite athlete is Cristiano Ronaldo – the legendary footballer. She also follows cricket and she is a fan of former Indian Cricket turned commentator Virender Sehwag and if she gets an opportunity, she would also love to bat life Sehwag and score a few centuries. She also loves driving cars, bikes and bicycles whenever she gets time and sometimes she also competes with her family and friends to maintain he competitive spirit. She feels watching cricket and football helps her release a bit of her stress, if in case the day didn’t go well as expected. But my “coaches, training and support staff, nutritionist, etc. at SAI NSNIS are very helpful in these situations, if in case I feel low. They always try and be around with me to share the load of expectations and help me stay focused on becoming the world champion”, she added.
Interaction with the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi was one of the most memorable moments of my life. She said, “we have blessings of ~1.3 Bn+ people and along with the PM. Speaking to him we realized that we need to play for India and worry less about the load of all expectations. We enjoyed our Prime Minister’s humor and the way he enjoyed the very little aspects of each athlete and how they should always live in the moment”. Like PV Sindhu (Badminton) likes Ice Cream as her cheat meal, Kamalpreet Kaur loves eating Indian food (strictly Vegetarian), especially if its paneer or aloo paratha.
Patiala’s NSNIS trained Kamalpreet Kaur to participate in Tokyo Olympics. Kamalpreet’s Coach Prachi Tyagi said,“Kamalpreet’s preparation has been honestly very hard. It is not just from now, but we have been preparing since 2018 for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. We are all confident that she will perform very well and hopefully win a medal, primarily by the way she is training and giving her 100% here at SAI NSNIS Patiala during her practice sessions.
We have had tremendous support from the nutritionist, psychologists and physiotherapists and every other department of SAI NSNIS Patiala in preparing Kamalpreet Kaur for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. We all are supporting Kamal’s moral and her determination and we are praying that she wins a medal and gives her best. To boost her confidence even more, I would like to say Go far, Go fast and Go for Gold and make our magical country proud in the process.”
July 19,2021
