CWG 2022: Podium finish for India’s veteran race walker Sandeep Kumar, heartbreak for Amit Kumar

On Sunday at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, there was a podium finish for India’s veteran race walker Sandeep Kumar. However, World U20 Championships silver medalist Amit Kumar finished at the bottom of the men’s 10,000m race walk conducted on the 400m track.

This was the first time the 10,000m race walk was organized in both the men's and women’s group. Generally, the distance for a race walk is 20km and it's held on the road.

India’s 35-year-old national record holder over 20km and 35km, Sandeep Kumar stayed on course for a bronze medal, clocking 38:48.21 seconds, while promising race walker Amit finished at the bottom of the table with a time of 43:58.64.

Canada’s Evan Dunfee won gold with a time of 38:36.37 seconds, a Commonwealth Games record and a personal best over the 10,000m distance. Australia’s Declan Tingay took home silver with a time of 38:42.33.

Sandeep got off to a good start, leading the pack of five athletes. But he slowed down at the 2000m mark due to a warning from the race officials due to loss of contact with the ground.

“It was a satisfactory result as Sandeep was a bit scared of warnings from race officials in past international competitions,” Sandeep’s personal coach Gurmeet Singh said. “Race walking is a technical event. We have been working on the basic race-walking technique during practice and will continue to do so in future.”

Sandeep Kumar outdone by Evan Dunfee

Evan Dunfee played a waiting game. He stayed on the back of the leading pack and surged ahead at the 8000m mark with a blistering 3:49.55. Dunfee slowed down in the next 1000m but again pushed hard with a 3:44.18 for the last 1000m, to clock 38:36.37 seconds for the gold medal.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had huge expectations from promising race-walker Amit Kumar. However, due to poor race-walking technique, he got a warning twice during the competition.

This spoiled Amit’s chances of a podium finish in Birmingham. The World U20 silver medalist finished ninth and last with a time of 43:58.64.

The majority of India's elite race walkers have been achieving new boundaries on the domestic circuit. However, at the international level - barring Commonwealth Games - they haven’t been able to repeat their performances.

This despite having Russian foreign expert Tatiana Sibileva overseeing the national coaching program since March of this year.