Four years ago, Sandeep Kumar stamped his dominance in the 50km race walk with a National record that still stands.
On Saturday, the 34-year old added the 20km to his kitty, winning the 8th National/4th International race walking championships in Ranchi with a new National record that also saw him qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and the World Championships next year.
Sandeep timed one hour, 20 minutes and 16 seconds, five seconds quicker than K.T. Irfan’s London Olympics and Devender Singh’s Asian Championships mark.
With his timing, the Haryana Armyman also qualified for the World race walking championships next year.
Second-placed Rahul, who finished in 1:20:26, also qualified for Olympics and Worlds. The qualification time for both events for men is 1:21:00. Irfan, who has already qualified for the Olympics, did not finish the race.
Among women, 24-year old Priyanka Goswami from Uttar Pradesh also set a National record and qualified for both Olympics and the Worlds with a timing of 1:28:45s, more than a minute quicker than erstwhile holder and runner-up here Bhawana Jat.
Bhawana, already qualified for Tokyo, finished in 1:32:59.
The results: Men 20km: 1. Sandeep Kumar (Har, 1:20:16); 2. Rahul (Har, 1: 20:26); 3. Hardeep (Har, 1:24:41).
Women 20km: 1. Priyanka Goswami (UP, 1:28:45); 2. Bhawana Jat (Raj, 1:32:59); 3. Sonal Sukhwal (Raj, 1:36:05).
