The 20km races for men and women were held on the first day of the national walking championships in India in Ranchi.
20km men
Victory for Sandeep Kumar (IND), on which everyone's eyes were focused, in 1:21.34 approaching his personal best (1:20:44) established in Nomi (JPN) on 20.3.2016 by 50”.
Excellent was also the result of the second arrived, Rahul (IND) who finished the race in 1:21:59 new personal best (previous of 1:24:31 obtained in Ranchi (IND) on 11.10.2019.
Third pace to Vikash Singh (IND) in 1:22.27.
Irfan Kolothum Thodi - better known as KT Irfan - holder of the Indian national record of 20km men (1:20:21) and who had already obtained the minimum for Tokyo / Sapporo in Nomi on 17.3.2019 stopped due to cramps midway through the race.
The race saw a large number of athletes at the start (46) of whom 35 completed the 20km, 8 DNF and 2 DQ.
20km women
The 20km women's race was won by Bhawana Jat (IND) in 1:29:54 thus obtaining the entry standard to Tokyo / Sapporo Olympic Games.
Certainly this performance was the surprise of the day for everyone.
It also represents the new national record in India's 20km women and the first performance under the 1:30:00 wall.
Up to date, the young Rajashan athlete boasted the personal best of 1:38:30, also established in Ranchi (IND) on 12.10.2019.
An amazing improvement therefore of 8:36.
Second place to Goswami Priyanka (IND) in 1:31:36
She too gets a huge improvement (8:05) to the previous personal best of 1:39:41 also established in Ranchi (IND) on 12.10.2019. Unfortunately, however, for only 36" she cannot obtain the entry standard for participation in the Olympic Games.
Third place in Karamit Kaur (IND) in 1:33:41 also with the new personal best (-0:28). The 1:34:09 previous one had been established in New Delhi (IND) on 18.2.2018.
These excellent performances obtained with an international jury, which included Orsolya Gruber (HUN), José Ganso (POR) and late Emmanuel (FRA), it speaks volumes about the progress of India since the 1980 Olympic Games in Mixed Ranjit Sing on the first Indian walker in history to participate in an Olympiae. He finished 18th in 1:38:28