Seema Punia (Discus Throw) Age, Height, Weight, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Other name	Seema Antil Punia [1]Facebook- Seema Punia
Profession	Discus Thrower
Physical Stats & More
[2]The Times of India Height	in centimeters- 183 cm in meters- 1.83 m in feet & inches- 6’
[3]Results GC 2018 Weight	in kilograms- 96 kg in pounds- 211 lbs
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Discus Throw
Coach(es)/Mentor(s)	• Ankush Punia • Vitaliy Pishchalnikov
Medals	World Junior Championships 2002: Bronze medal in discus throw held in Kingston Commonwealth Games 2006: Silver medal in discus throw held in Melbourne 2010: Bronze medal in discus throw held in Delhi 2014: Silver medal in discus throw held in Glasgow 2018: Silver medal in discus throw held in Goldcoast Asian Games 2014: Gold medal in discus throw held in Incheon 2018: Bronze medal in discus throw held in Jakarta Palembang
Personal Life
Date of Birth	27 July 1983 (Wednesday)
Age (as of 2023)	40 Years
Birthplace	Village Khewra, Sonipat, Haryana
Zodiac sign	Leo
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Village Khewra, Sonipat, Haryana
School	Tika Ram Girls Sr. Sec. School, Sonipat, Haryana
College/University	Government College, Sonipat, Haryana
Educational Qualification	Graduation [4]The Times of India [5]Tribune India
Controversy	In 2000, she was given a title ‘Millenium Child’ after she won a gold medal at the World Junior Championships in 2000. Later, she was tested positive for the pseudoephedrine drug test. [6]India Times
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian [7]The Indian Express
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Divorced
Affairs/Boyfriends	Ankush Punia
Marriage Date	6 February 2011
Family
Husband/Spouse	Ankush Punia (former discus thrower and coach) [8]Hindustan News Hub
Parents	Father- Vijay Pal Singh (lawyer) Mother- Name Not Known
Siblings	Brother(s)- 2 • Anandpal Antil (eldest; Greco-Roman wrestler) • Amitpal Antil (hockey player)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Seema Punia

• Seema Punia is an Indian discus thrower who represents India at various national and international events.

• At the age of 11, she started participating in hurdle races in her school competitions and won many athletic competitions. In an interview, while talking about encouraging Seema in sports, her father said,
  

  We encouraged her as much as we could and never pressurised her about her studies. We fed her with milk and ghee to build up her stamina. I accompanied her wherever she had to go.”

• Later, she started practising the long jump, but soon, she developed an interest in the shot put and discus throw.
  

  Seema Punia while practising discus throw

• Seema has participated in many national and international discus throw competitions like Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Olympics.

• She went through a rock phase in her career, when she was tested positive for the pseudoephedrine drug test in 2000, and she had to return her gold medal which she won in the World Junior Championships 2000.

• Sema was honoured with the Bhim Award from the Haryana Government on 26 June 2006 for her contribution in sports.

• She joined the Haryana Police as a sub-inspector in 2010. In an interview, she shared that she faced huge problems in her career due to the lack of support from the sports authorities in India. In an interview, while talking about it, she said,
  

  It was only after court orders that I got a sub-inspector job. Every time I represent my case for promotion, I was told that only Asian Games gold medallist can be promoted to DSP rank. I knew it was not true if you look at the cases of other athletes. But I don’t want to take any name. All I want to say is that now I’m also an Asiad gold medallist, please treat me at par.”

• On winning a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014, she said,
  

  I am very happy to get the gold which I expected to win today. I have trained for this gold over the last three years. I had waited for this after missing the last two Asian Games. I usually don’t perform well in my first throw. But I followed my coach’s instructions today to hurl the disc past the 55m mark with my first attempt.”

• She represented India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in the discus throw. The Olympics were held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

In an interview, she said that her preference will always be discus throw, but she wanted to try shot put also. She further added,

My life revolves around discus. That’s the only thing I know. The sport has given me so much allowing me to explore the world. If it was not for discus, I would have been confined to some remote village in Haryana attending to cows. My mission is to win an Olympic medal which is still unaccomplished and the next two years will be dedicated to fulfilling this dream. Though discus continues to be my prime focus, I am itching to try my hand at shot put. In India, we do not have quality women shot putters. I had won medals at the Asian level during my junior days and I do not mind having another attempt.’’

• In 2021, she asked the Indian sports federation to test the Indian discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur for hyperandrogenism dose. She hinted that the sudden improvement in Kaur’s performance was because of doping. ^[9]The Bridge In an interview, Punia said,
  

  When she threw 65m (at the Federation Cup) I was the first to congratulate and appreciate her here. But when she crossed 66m, and I saw the footage, I had my doubts. Beyond a point, sheer power cannot help a woman thrower go that distance. It requires technique, fitness, agility, a lot of other things, none of which she has.”