Akshdeep and Priyanka Win Men's And Women's 20km Race Walk Gold

Unheralded On the first day of the National Open Race Walking Championships in Ranchi on Tuesday, Akshdeep Singh won the men's 20-kilometer race gold in a shocking national record time to qualify for both the 2018 World Championships and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The woman who holds the U.S. record for the 20-kilometer race, Priyanka Goswami, not only won gold but also qualified for the 2024 Olympics and the World Championships. The veteran Sandeep Kumar of Haryana, who placed a pitiful seventh on Tuesday with a time of 1:23.28, held the previous national record of 1:20:16. The 23-year-old Akshdeep, who is from Punjab's Barnala area, destroyed it by clocking 1 hour, 19 minutes, and 55 seconds. With a time, Suraj Panwar of Uttarakhand came in second.of 1:20.11, almost missing the qualifying time for the World Championships and Olympics. With a time of 1:21.08, Delhi's Vikash Singh finished third among the 48 competitors. For both the 2024 Olympics and the world championships, which will be contested in Budapest in August, the men's 20km race walk qualifying time is 1:20:10. With a time of 1:28:50, only a little slower than her national record of 1:28:45, which she had established in 2021, Priyanka, representing Uttar Pradesh, won the gold as was predicted.Priyanka, a 26-year-old Tokyo Olympian, took home the silver medal in the women's 10,000-meter race walk at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.

Sonal Sukhwal, another resident of Rajasthan, finished third in 1:31:03, followed by Bhawana Jat in second place with a time of 1:29:44. The qualifying time for the women's 20-kilometer race walk for the 2024 Olympics and the August World Championships in Budapest is 1:29:20. After the qualifying round opened on December 31, 2022, Akshdeep and Priyanka became the first athletes from India to have qualified for the 2024 Olympics (to end on June 30, 2024). Neeraj Chopra, a top javelin thrower, and Avinash Sable, a 3000m steeplechaser, have both qualified for the World Championships, although neither has yet qualified for the 2024 Games.The qualifying period for the 2024 Olympics, except the marathon, combined events, and race walks, runs from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The son of a farmer and a housewife, Akshdeep started playing basketball at Patiala University under the instruction of renowned coach Gurdev Singh. Through Khelo India Games, he eventually arrived at the Sports Authority of India Center in Bangaluru, where he is now receiving instruction from national race walk coach Tatyana Sibileva. Prior to Tuesday's outcome, Akshdeep, who competed at the U-20 level till 2018, had earned a silver medal in the 2022 edition of the championships with a time of 1:23:14, which stood as his personal best. Prior to that, he placed second in the 2022 Olympics in 1:25:26.Open national championships in athletics.