Muscat [Oman], March 6 (ANI): Eknath Sambhaji Turambekar and Priyanka Goswami set new National Records in the men and women’s 35 Km events in the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Muscat. They finished 27th and 20th respectively in hot conditions that added to the challenge of the 2 Km loop near the Oman Convention Centre.
Coming in the wake of the bronze medal won by the Indian team in the women’s 20 Km event on Friday, the two National Record efforts are positives. Besides, they are a justification of the Athletics Federation of India’s decision to continue backing the race walking squad to train in the National Camp.
Competing in only his second race over the distance, Eknath Sambhaji Turambekar clocked 2:45:17 while Priyanka Goswami’s 3:13:19 came in her maiden appearance in a 35 Km event. The previous National Records were set by Ram Baboo (2:46:31) and Ramandeep Kaur (3:15:17) respectively in the National Open Championships in Warangal in September 2021.
Priyanka Goswami, 17th in the 20km event in Tokyo 2020, set a scorching pace early in the race, leading through 16-1/2km. But by the time she had completed 17km in 1:23:21, the tiring Indian conceded the lead. In rising heat, the second half of the race challenged her to stay on course. She showed resilience in completing the distance.
The 25-year-old Priyanka Goswami and the 24-year-old Eknath Sambhaji Turambekar would both have been mindful that they had been given one red card each. On a day on which as many as 14 men either did not finish the distance or were disqualified, Chandan Singh (2:51:40) and Ram Baboo (3:07:14) drew no cards as they finished 38th and 46th respectively. (ANI)
