India’s Akshdeep Singh clinched the gold medal while Priyanka Goswami bagged bronze in the men’s and women’s categories 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.
At the National Championships earlier this month, Akshdeep Singh and Priyanka Goswami had already qualified for the World Championships and the Paris Olympics. National record holder Akshdeep Singh won the men’s 20km race walk event with a time of 1:20:57. After Olympian Gurmeet Singh in 2016, the athlete from Punjab won India’s second gold medal. Choe Byeongkwang of South Korea finished second with a time of 1:21:20, while Wen Yongjie of China took bronze with a time of 1:22:44.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medalist Priyanka Goswami finished third in the women’s event in 1:32:27. Lan Gao of China won gold with a time of 1:29:25. Ayane Yanai of Japan finished second in 1:0:58, ahead of the Indian athlete. With these medals, India’s overall tally at the championships increased to nine (two golds, two silvers, and five bronzes). Suraj Panwar and Hardeep Singh of India finished the men’s race in 1:22:31 and 1:25:38, respectively. In the women’s race, Tokyo Olympian Bhawana Jat finished at 1:36:20, while her compatriot Munita Prajapati finished at 1:33:22. Sonal Sukhwal did not start.
The Asian 20km Race Walking Championship 2023 featured nine Indian athletes, five men and four women. 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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