12th edition of the national race walking competition on April 19

Two-time Olympian and national record holder Priyanka Goswami will look ahead to dominate women’s 20km event at the 12th edition of the Indian Open Race Walking competition at Sukhna Lake on April 19.

Priyanka’s main focus on Saturday will be to achieve the May 27 to 31 Asian Athletics Championships qualification time of 1:32:00 — set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) in the women’s 20km event.

“I’m fit and should be able to clock a good time tomorrow,” the 29-year-old national record holder said.

Priyanka’s personal best and national record in women’s 20km is 1:28:45, recorded in 2021 in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Earlier this year in March, she also improved the national women’s 35km race walk record to 2:56.34 in Slovakia.

The women’s 20km event has attracted 20 athletes. While the men’s 20 km race walk will witness 46 elite runners — majority of them from the Indian Army.

The qualification time for the Asian meet in the men’s 20km event is 1:24:00. Paris Olympian Akshdeep Singh and Paramjeet Singh Bisht are considered main contenders for the podium finish in the men’s 20km race walk.

Akshdeep holds the men’s 20km national record of 1:19:55 clocked in 2023 in Ranchi. The Punjab race walker exuded confidence to stay ahead of his rivals and book a berth for the upcoming Asian Championships. “The route is good and I’m expecting a good time on Saturday,” he said.

The men’s 35km event has attracted a big group of 14 athletes from the Indian army. Army’s international race walker Ram Baboo will spearhead the challenge.

The gruelling 35km race walk in the women’s group has attracted 11 athletes. The main contenders will be Manju Rani, Ramandeep Kaur and Payal.

The World Athletics Championships’ qualification time in men’s 20km race walk is 1:19:20 and for women’s 20km category is 1:29:00. The automatic qualification time in men’s 35km is 2:28:00 and for women’s 35km category is 2:48:00.

The competition will also be conducted in the U-20 boys and girls group on Saturday.

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