India’s Akshdeep Singh clinched the gold medal while Priyanka Goswami bagged bronze in the men’s and women’s category respectively at the Asian 20km Race Walking Championships 2023 held in Nomi, Japan on Sunday.
Among the other Indian athletes, Vikash Singh and Paramjeet Bisht clocked 1:20:05 and 1:20:08, respectively, in the men’s open category which saw them breach the 1:20:10 mark – the qualification standards for both the 2023 World Championships and Paris 2024 Olympics.
In the Men’s Open category, Vikash Singh and Paramjeet Bisht timings of 1:20:05 and 1:20:08 respectively, enabled them breach qualification standards for the World Championships and Olympics, set by World Athletics.
Congratulations Guys! Well done. #IndianAthletics pic.twitter.com/y5sPuWNB1H
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) March 19, 2023
Akshdeep Singh and Priyanka Goswami had already qualified for the World Championships and Paris Olympics at the National Championships earlier this month.
In the men’s 20km race walk event, national record holder Akshdeep Singh clocked the timing of 1:20:57 to finish on top of the podium. The athlete from Punjab secured India’s second gold medal after Olympian Gurmeet Singh in 2016.
South Korea’s Choe Byeongkwang finished second with a timing of 1:21:20 while China’s Wen Yongjie clocked 1:22:44 to secure the bronze medal in the men’s event.
Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medallist Priyanka Goswami, meanwhile, completed her race in 1:32:27 to finish third in the women’s event. Lan Gao of China won the gold medal with a timing of 1:29:25. Ayane Yanai of Japan clocked 1:0:58 to finish second ahead of the Indian athlete.
With these medals, India’s overall tally rose to nine (two golds, two silvers, five bronze) at the championships.
India’s Suraj Panwar and Hardeep Singh finished with timings of 1:22:31 and 1:25:38 respectively, in the men’s race. Tokyo Olympian Bhawana Jat logged a time of 1:36:20 in the women’s race while her compatriot Munita Prajapati finished her course in 1:33:22. Sonal Sukhwal didn’t start.
A total of nine Indian athletes – five men and four women – participated in the Asian 20km Race Walking Championship 2023.
The 15th edition of the race, an annual race walking competition for athletes representing countries from Asia, was held after a hiatus of three years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
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