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Indian race walkers failed to create a significant impact in the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships 2024 on Sunday, April 21, as none of the athletes put up a good show ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024.
A total of 10 Indian athletes were part of the 20km events - five each in men’s and women’s categories. Servin Sebastian was the lone Indian to finish in the top 20 in the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships 2024.
Ram Baboo, who breached the Olympics men’s 20 km race walk qualification mark, clocking a personal best of 1:20.00 in the Dudinska 50 Meet in Slovakia, made an exit around the 2 km mark.
Other athletes who met the Olympic qualifying standards - Sebastian, Vikash Singh, Paramjeet Singh, and Suraj Panwar, also put up below-par performances in the campaign despite good weather conditions.
Sebastian clocked 1:21.39 seconds, Vikash Singh finished at 23rd rank with 1:21.59 seconds while Suraj Panwar, clocked 1:24.09 to end the race at 40th spot among 76 athletes to finish the event. Arshpreet Singh, the fifth Indian in the category, secured the 66th spot, clocking 1:33.39 seconds in the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships 2024.
What about the women’s race walk in World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships 2024?
In the women’s 20km race walk, none of the five Indian contenders for Paris berths could achieve the Olympic cut-off timing of 1:20.20. Pooja Kumawat emerged as the top finisher among them, securing the 42nd place with a time of 1:40.27 seconds.
Manju Rani and Mokavi Muthurathinam closely followed at 43rd and 44th positions, clocking 1:40.31 and 1:40.33 respectively. Ramandeep Kaur (142.12) and Payal (1:42.32) finished 49th and 50th, respectively, out of 63 athletes who completed the race.
In the mixed race walk marathon, Priyanka Goswami and Akshdeep Singh secured the 18th position, clocking 3:05.03 seconds while the other mixed doubles pair of Paramjeet Singh and Prajapati Munita finished at the 35th rank with 3:09.58 seconds.
Both Akshdeep and Priyanka have already qualified individually for Paris 2024 after meeting the qualifying standards in the men’s and women’s 20km race walk.
