Kiran Baliyan Height, Age, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About  Kiran Baliyan

• Kiran began training for the shot put professionally in 2015 at the Kailash Prakash Sports Stadium in Meerut.

• In 2015, Kiran would often accompany her father to the Kailash Prakash Sports Stadium, where he was posted as a home guard.
• She would often hurt herself while practising with other athletes at the stadium.
• Her coach noticed her strengths and suggested she should practice the shot put.
  

  Kiran Baliyan practising at the Kailash Prakash stadium

• In 2015, she took part in the U18 Nationals in Ranchi where she covered a distance of 12.49m with a 3 kg put. She stood at the sixth place in this competition.

•  In 2016, with a throw of 14.62m, she won a bronze medal in the U18 category of junior nationals held in Coimbatore.

• In 2017, she started practising with a 4 kg put, whereas she earlier practised with a 3 kg put.

• The first time she hit the 15 m mark in a shot put event was at a championship in Obra held in May 2017.

• In November 2017, Kiran participated in the Under-20 category of the Junior Athletics Championships in Vijayawada where she won a gold medal with a throw of 14.54m.

• In December 2017, she won a gold medal in a championship held in Mangalagiri with a throw of 14.37m.

• On 20 April 2018, she crossed the 15 m mark for the first time at the U20 Championships in Coimbatore and won a gold medal with a throw of 15.23 meters.

• She won five championships in a row after she won the South Asian U20 Championships held in Colombo.

• In June 2018, she was placed fifth at the Asian Junior Championships held in Gifu, Japan.

• In May 2019, she, for the first time, crossed the 16-metre mark at the Regional Championships in Allahabad, UP, with a throw of 16.87m.

• In January 2020, she won a gold medal at the Indian University Championships in Moodbidri with a throw of 15.69 metres.

• On 28 February 2020, she won a gold medal with a throw of 15.10m at the Khelo India University Games held in Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar.

• On 15 March 2021, with a throw of 16.45m, she became champion of the Federation Cup held in Patiala.
  

  Kiran Baliyan at the Federation Cup

• On 30 September 2022, at the National Games of India held in Gujarat, she won a gold medal; she set a national record with a throw of 17.14m.

• In June 2023, she won a gold medal with a throw of 17.17m at the Indian Championships in the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar.

• On 29 September 2023, she became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games shot put medal after 72 years at the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. She was placed third with a throw of 17.38m and finished behind China’s Olympic champions, Gong Lijiao (19.58m), and Song Jiayuan (18.92m).

• Before Kiran, Barbara Webster, an Anglo-Indian from Bombay, was the only Indian woman to win a medal in the shot put event at the Asian Games; she won a bronze medal in 1951.

• She has a pet dog named Sunny.

• She trains under the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

• During her initial days, Kiran’s mother would help her with stretching and warm-up exercises due to the lack of female trainers at that time.

• Her father’s police pass helped her practice during the COVID-19 lockdown.

• In September 2023, she recorded her personal best with a throw of 17.92m at the Indian Grand Prix in Chandigarh.

• She takes inspiration from the two-time Olympic medallist Joe Kovacs.

• Kiran is good friends with discus thrower Seema Punia who took care of Kiran’s diet before the Asian Games and supported her financially.
  

  Seema Punia cheering for Kiran Baliyan at the 2022 Asian Games