Akshdeep Singh creates history, wins gold in men’s 20km race walk with a national record time at the National Open Race Walking Championships on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old from Punjab surprised everyone with his time of 1:19:55, shattering the earlier national record of 1:20:16 held by veteran Sandeep Kumar. Akshdeep’s stunning performance not only secured his spot in this year’s World Championships but also in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Prior to this, his personal best was 1:26:10, making his achievement even more remarkable. In the women’s 20km race walk event, Priyanka Goswami won gold with a time of 1:28:50, qualifying for both the World Championships and the 2024 Olympics as well.

It is impressive to see these young athletes raise the bar for Indian race walking and we hope to see more of such feats in the future.