Olympics Paris 2024: Indian Race Walkers Qualify For 20km Events

Priyanka Goswami & Akshdeep Singh won gold in the 20km race and eventually qualified for the World Athletics Championships 2023 & Paris Olympics 2024.

Akshdeep Singh and Priyanka Goswami, two race walkers from India, have qualified for the 20-kilometer race walk events at the Olympics in Paris in 2024. 

At the National Open Race Walking Championships 2023, held on Tuesday in Morabadi, Jharkhand, the men’s and women’s 20km race walks, respectively, were won by the pair, who both put on strong performances to secure their positions.

Akshdeep Singh, a 23-year-old Punjabi athlete, finished the race in 1 hour, 19 minutes, and 55 seconds. At the National Championship, he went on to win the men’s 20-kilometer race walk competition. 

His accomplishment not only guaranteed him a spot in the Olympics in Paris in 2024, but it also broke a record for the country. 

At the Ranchi National Race Walking Championships in 2021, Sandeep Kumar held the previous record of 1:20:16, which he broke. 

Akshdeep Singh exceeded 1:20:10 due to the timing. The qualifying time for the men’s 20 km race walking event is set at this time for both the Budapest 2023 world championships and the Paris 2024 Olympics.

At the same championship, Priyanka Goswami, a 26-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, won the women’s 20km race walk competition. 

She finished first with a timing of 1:28:50, five seconds lower than her personal national record. 

Priyanka beat the qualifying time of 1:29:20 for the women’s 20 km race walk at the world championships in 2023 as well as the Olympics in Paris in 2024.

Suraj Panwar, who won the silver medal, also fell short of the previous national record. He finished in 1:20:11, just missing both qualifying times. 

Vikash Singh, who won bronze for the men, finished in 1:21:08. Bhawna Jat, a Tokyo Olympian, finished in 1:29:44 to win the silver medal but fell short of the quota. Sonal Sukhwal finished third with a timing of 1:31:03.

India will compete in the men’s 20km race walk at the Olympics in Paris in 2024 for the third time in a row. 

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In the men’s 20-kilometer race walk, Manish Singh Rawat placed 13th at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. In contrast, KT Irfan placed tenth in the same competition at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Paris will host the 2024 Summer Olympics from July 26 until August 11, 2024. More than 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will compete in 28 sports. 

India will be looking to outdo its achievement from the Olympics in Tokyo, where they took home seven medals in all, including one silver plus six bronze.