Indian race walkers Sandeep Kumar and Priyanka Goswami finished 23rd and 24th in the men’s and women’s 35km events, respectively, in hot and humid conditions at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo on Saturday.
Sandeep Kumar finished with a time of 2:39:15, which is over four seconds more than his personal best of 2:35:06 that was clocked in Chandigarh in April.
Priyanka Goswami, who is the national record holder in the women’s 35km race walk with a time of 2:57:54, finished just over eight seconds from her personal best after clocking 3:05:58 at Tokyo.
Ram Baboo, who is the national record holder in the men’s 35km race walk with a time of 2:29:56, also participated in the men’s event but was disqualified after receiving his fourth red card.
Baboo was one of six race walkers who were disqualified, while another 10 participants did not finish.
Olympic bronze medallist Evan Dunfee of Canada finished first in the men’s 35km race walk with a time of 2:28:22, while Paris 2024 silver medal winner Caio Bonfim came in second after clocking a season-best time of 2:28:55. Japan’s Hayato Katsuki was third with 2:29:16.
The women’s 35km race walk saw two-time Olympic medallist María Pérez of Spain defend her title with a time of 2:39:01.
Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Antonella Palmisano of Italy won silver after clocking 2:42:24 and Olympian Paula Milena Torres bagged bronze with a time of 2:42:44, which is a new Ecuadorian national record.
Meanwhile, Pooja Olla came in 11th in the second heat of the women’s 1500m qualifiers after clocking 4:13.75 – a time which was almost four seconds over her personal best of 4:09.52.
Pooja finished 48th overall and failed to progress to the semi-finals.
She will be seen in action again in the 800m race at the 20th edition of the World Athletics Championships.
India’s athletics contingent for Tokyo25 comprises 14 men and five women, who will compete for medals across 15 events.
Indian athletes have only won three medals at the World Athletics Championships so far.
Anju Bobby George won long jump bronze at Paris 2003, while Neeraj Chopra claimed javelin silver at Oregon 2022 and followed it up with a historic gold at Budapest.