India’s Manpreet Kaur narrowly missed a podium finish in the women’s shot put, while Asian Games medallist Parul Chaudhary finished fifth in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the 2026 Commonwealth Games on a day that also saw Murali Sreeshankar, Dilip Mahadu Gavit and Mohammed Basil Morssinganakathi win medals for the country.
Manpreet endured a heartbreaking finish after slipping from the bronze medal position in the final round of the women’s shot put. Canada’s Sarah Mitton took an early lead with an opening throw of 18.50m and eventually clinched the gold medal with a best effort of 19.88m.
Manpreet opened with a throw of 15.92m before improving to 17.49m in the fifth round, which moved her into third place. However, Jamaica’s Lloydricia Cameron produced a final-round throw of 17.87m to move ahead of the Indian. Cameron matched Nigeria’s Jessica Oji’s best mark of 17.87m but settled for silver on countback, as Oji had registered her best throw earlier in the competition.
Needing a strong final attempt to reclaim third place, Manpreet fouled on her last throw and finished fourth.
In the women’s 3000m steeplechase, Parul Chaudhary clocked 9:26.75 to finish fifth. Kenya’s Faith Cherotich won the gold medal in a Games record time of 9:01.76, while England’s Elise Thorner claimed silver with a personal best of 9:05.45 after overtaking Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai in the closing stages.
Parul stayed with the lead group during the early laps but lost ground in the middle stages. Although she attempted to close the gap in the final lap, she was unable to make up the deficit.
Despite the near misses, it was a successful day overall for India in athletics. Murali Sreeshankar won silver in the men’s long jump, while Dilip Mahadu Gavit clinched gold with a Games record in the men’s 100m T47 event. Mohammed Basil Morssinganakathi added to India’s tally by securing silver, completing an Indian one-two in the event.
(With IANS inputs)
