Suraj Panwar on Tuesday became the fourth Indian to qualify for the Paris Olympics in the men’s 20km race walk clocking clocked one hour, 19 minutes and 43 seconds (1:19:43) at the Open Race Walking Competition in Chandigarh
The 23-year-old Panwar won the silver medal for his effort. The men’s 20km race walking qualifying standard for the Olympics is 1:20:10.
Akshdeep Singh, who clocked 1:19:37, a new national record, to defend his title, met the Paris qualification time at the same competition last year. Servin claimed the bronze medal with a timing of 1:20:29 and fell short of breaching the entry standard for Paris 2024.
Vikas Singh and Paramjeet Bisht are the other two athletes who have already met the entry standard in the men’s 20km race walk.
In the women’s event, Manju Rani won the gold medal with a personal best timing of 1:34:16. She was followed by Payal (1:34:45) and Munita Prajapati (1:35:36) on the podium.
National record holder Priyanka Goswami breached the qualification time for the Paris Olympics at the same competition last year. The entry standard for the Paris 2024 Olympics in the women’s 20km race walk is 1:29:20.
Each national federation can send a maximum of three athletes in the men’s 20km race walk event for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Achieving the entry standard is just one part of the Olympic qualification process. National Olympic Committees have the final say as to whether Suraj Panwar will be selected to the NOC team for the Games.