Seema Punia-Antil (born 27 July 1983) is an Indian

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

er.Her personal best throw is 64.84 m,achieved in Kyiv in 2004.

Early life

Seema Antil was born in Khewda village of

Sonipat district Sonipat district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Sonipat town is the district headquarters. It is a part of National Capital Region. It is bordered by Delhi, Panipat, Rohtak, Jind, Jhajjar and Baghpat (Uttar Pr ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

. Her sporting career began at the age of 11 years as a hurdler and a long-jumper, but later took to

. Her gold medal win at the World Junior Championships in 2000 in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

earned her the nickname: 'Millennium Child'. She studied in the Government College, Sonipat.

Career

Antil originally won a gold medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships, but she lost it due to a positive drugs' test for

pseudoephedrine Pseudoephedrine, sold under the brand name Sudafed among others, is a sympathomimetic medication which is used as a decongestant to treat nasal congestion. It has also been used off-label for certain other indications, like treatment of lo ...

. As per the rules in force at that time for such an offence, her National Federation issued her a public warning after stripping her of the medal. She won a bronze medal at the next World Junior Championships in 2002. She won a silver medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

, and was honoured with Bhim Award by the

state government on 26 June 2006. Her absence from the 2006 Asian Games attracted considerable media attention. She had tested positive for a steroid (stanozolol) prior to the Games but was cleared to participate by her National Federation. She, however, opted out of the team for the Games. She won a bronze medal at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

. She finished 12th at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2014, she won a silver medal at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

and a gold at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

Personal life

Antil is married to Ankush Punia, her coach, and a former discus thrower who represented India at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

International competitions

References