Seema PUNIA

That performance pushed the Indian discus thrower to greater heights in the coming years as she made her Olympic debut at the 2004 Games in Athens. 

Though Seema Punia couldn’t match her personal best and national record of 64.84m at Athens, a 60.64m attempt ensured her a 14th-place finish.

The next time Seema Punia crossed the 60m barrier was at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The effort fetched her a silver medal, her first medal at the Commonwealth event. She was later conferred with Bhim Award by Haryana’s state government.

Many expected her to do better at the Asian Games the same year. But Seema Punia withdrew from the event due to her father’s poor health.

The next few years saw Seema Punia restrict her participation to a few events with a recurring knee injury holding back her progress. This also meant that she missed the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Seema Punia announced her comeback in 2010 with a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. She then built on the performance and sealed a spot in the London 2012 Olympics.

Seema Punia married her long-time coach and the former international discus thrower Ankush Punia in 2011. Ankush represented India at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The Indian discus throw ace would then move her training base to the USA and regularly feature in the American and the European circuit in the build-up to the London 2012.

The move worked well for her as she was once again busy hurling the disc beyond the 60m mark for the first time since 2006.

The improvement, however, wasn’t enough at the London Games as Seema Punia finished an overall 13th with a best throw of 61.91m.

After a lean phase, the Indian discus thrower returned to the limelight with a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Her maiden Asian Games title in Incheon, South Korea, soon followed.

Just when it looked like things were finally taking shape for the Indian discus thrower, the knee injury once again derailed her progress forcing her to skip the 2015 season.

Seema returned in 2016 with some big performances in the American circuit and qualified for the third Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. But at Rio 2016, Seema Punia was a shadow of her past self and finished a lowly 20th with a best effort of 57.58m.

Seema Punia improved her performance in the coming years and defended her CWG silver medal at the 2018 event in Australia. She added an Asian Games bronze to that list a few months later.

Despite having qualified for her fourth Olympics with an impressive throw of 63.72m, the Indian ace could not repeat her performance at Tokyo 2020 and finished 16th with the best effort of 60.57m.

Seema Punia struggled with a hip injury before the Commonwealth Games 2022 and for the first time in her career, missed out on a medal at the quadrennial event held in Birmingham with a throw of 55.92m. She finished fifth. It was the first time in 20 years that India returned without a medal in the discus throw event at the Commonwealth Games.

The veteran discus thrower, who was approaching her 40s, revealed that it was the last time she was competing at CWG but insisted that her career was far from over.

“I think I can throw well at the Asian Games (2023),” Seema Punia said after her performance in Birmingham. “And, if I get to the 63-64m mark, I can also make the (Paris 2024) Olympics. I'm strong so I'm here. The day I don't get my best in training, it would be my last.”