'Training without targets created doubts': Shot putter Manpreet Kaur on 4-year ban

Manpreet Kaur had nowhere to go in the last four years but she could not stop either. There was no real target to chase but she was striving to match the performance of athletes in real competitions during, what she called, "monotonous training". That's all the shot-putter could do after being slapped with a four-year ban for flunking a series of dope tests in 2017.

On her return to competition, there were usual performance-related fears and the initial poor results only created doubts but she managed to shrug off all the negativity to heave the iron ball to 18.06m during the ongoing Nationals, bettering her own national record of 17.96m which she had set in 2015. The 31-year-old Manpreet shared the emotional turmoil she endured following the ban. "There were thoughts of what I should do, whether to quit or continue.

I did train but when you are playing competitions, you have targets to achieve. There was no target for me during that four-year period (of ban)," Manpreet told PTI in an interview. "You were just going and training, those are difficult, no doubt," said Manpreet, who made a comeback during the National Open Championships in September last year.

"There was some mental pressure in the last few competitions, thinking that people would keenly watch how I will do after coming back. The throws were bad in the last five competitions before this one. I came here to do better than the earlier five." Manpreet was handed a four-year ban from July 2017 onwards after testing positive on four occasions that year.