Italy's Antonella Palmisano clinches gold medal in women's 20km race walk; India's Priyanka Goswami finishes 17th

Italy's Antonella Palmisano took home the gold medal in the women's 20km race walk event at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday. India’s Priyanka Goswami finished 17th in the field of 53 competitors.

The 25-year-old national record holder from Uttar Pradesh clocked 1 hour 32 minutes and 36 seconds to finish the race. Priyanka’s personal best is 1:28:45 she set in February this year.

The 30-year-old Italian clocked 1 hour 29 minutes and 12 seconds to win the gold. Sandra Arenas of Colombia took home the silver in a time of 1 hour 29 minutes 37 seconds.

China’s Liu Hong won the bronze with a time of 1 hour 29 minutes 57 seconds.

Brazil’s Erica Rocha de Sena, who was on the verge of winning the bronze medal, was pulled into the penalty box in the closing stages of the 20km event.

Priyanka failed to shine in Tokyo

A fortnight before the Olympics, Priyanka exuded confidence in improv her personal best of 1 hour, 28 minutes 45 seconds clocked in February at the National Race Walking Championships held in Ranchi.

Priyanka stayed with the leading pack for the first 9km of the race, but as the event progressed, the Indian athlete couldn’t keep pace with the leading group.

Four months before the Tokyo Games, Priyanka’s training was disrupted as she suffered from a bout of COVID-19 in April. Priyanka was taking part in the national camp held at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) training center in Bengaluru.

A fortnight before the start of the Olympics, Priyanka said she was fit.

“I’ve done good training. I should be able to break by personal best,” Priyanka said.

The performance of Bhawna Jat, the other Indian in the fray, was below par. She clocked 1 hour 37 minutes and 38 seconds to finish in 32nd position. Bhawna's personal best is 1 hour 29 minutes and 54 seconds.