Another gold for TN race walker

International race walker Servin Sebastian of Tamil Nadu stamped his authority in the men’s 20km event, during the 12th edition of the Indian Open Race Walking Competition. He won another gold, clocking 1:21:46.47 to better the next month’s Asian Athletics Championship qualification criteria of 1:24:50.

The race in Chandigarh was Sebastian’s second competition of the season. He had won gold in the 20km race walk at the 38th Uttarakhand National Games in February.“My main goal this season is to stay healthy and injury free. My next target is to qualify to compete at the World Athletics Championships,” said Sebastian. The World Athletics Championships automatic qualification time in men’s 20km is 1:19:20. And, its 1:29:00 in the women’s 20km race walk. Army’s Amit finished second with a time of 1:21:51.46. Amit’s team-mate Amanjot Singh crossed the line in 1:22:12.72 to finish third.

Paris Olympian Paramjeet Singh Bisht finished fourth with a time of 1:23:10.45. Akshdeep Singh who was considered favourite to win gold finished fifth with a time of 1:23:49.18. The men’s 35km race walk was dominated by Army’s international race walker Ram Baboo. His gold medal winning time was 2:32:53.50. Baboo also holds the national record of 2:29.56 set in 2023 in Slovakia. Payal won 34 km race walk with a timing of 2:51:48.76, followed by Manju Rani (2:55:34.19) and Ramandeep Kaur (2:57:03.94). The women’s 20km race walk gold went to Ravina of Haryana. She clocked 1:35:58.80. The Asian qualification time in the women’s 20km race walk was 1:32:00.

Chandigarh