Vikash Singh and Paramjit Bisht have qualified for the Paris Olympics in the Asian 20 km Race Walking Championship 2023 held in Nomi, Japan on Sunday. In the men’s open category, Vikash clocked 1:20:05 and Paramjeet clocked 1:20:08. Along with the Olympics, both have also sealed their places in the World Championships.

India’s Akshdeep Singh won gold, while Priyanka Goswami won bronze in the women’s category. The athlete from Punjab has won gold in the championship for the second time after Olympian Gurmeet Singh in 2016.

Akshdeep Singh won the gold with a timing of 1:20:57.

Priyanka Goswami, who won silver in the Commonwealth Games 2022, meanwhile completed the race with a time of 1:32:27 in the women’s category. China’s Lan Gao won the gold medal with a timing of 1:29:25. Ayane Yanai of Japan clocked 1:30:58 to finish second ahead of the Indian athlete.

Priyanka Goswami (right) won silver in the 10 kilometer race at the Games.

Akshdeep and Priyanka have already qualified
Akshdeep Singh and Priyanka Goswami had qualified for the World Championship and Paris Olympics during the National Championship last month. Now all the three spots of India’s quota in the Olympics in the men’s category have been filled.

In the Men’s National 20 km Race Walking Championship, Akshdeep Singh of Punjab won the gold medal by clocking 1 hour 19 minutes 55 seconds. Along with this, Akshdeep also created a national record.

Total 9 players took part
India’s Suraj Panwar and Hardeep Singh finished the race in the men’s category with timings of 1:22:31 and 1:25:38. While Tokyo Olympian Bhavna Jat clocked 1:36:20 in the women’s category, her compatriot Munita Prajapati clocked 1:33:22. A total of 9 athletes from India participated in the championship. In this, 5 participated in Men’s and 4 in Women’s category.