Paris 2024 Olympics: What is Priyanka Goswami's personal best in 20km race walk?
Priyanka Goswami will represent India in the women's 20km race walk event at Paris Olympics 2024. The race walk events are set to kickstart the athletics proceedings at the global event.
Priyanka's personal best is the national record in the women's category. She achieved the timing of 1:28:45 at the 2021 National Open Race Walking Championships in Jharkhand. The performance also helped her to secure a spot in the Tokyo Olympics.
Priyanka finished at the 17th position with a timing of 1:32:36 in the women's 20km race walk event in the Tokyo Olympics and would look to come up with improved performances this time.
In the 2023 National Open Race Walking Championships, Priyanka clocked 1:28:50 to breach the Paris 2024 qualification mark of 1:29:20 and thereby qualify for the Games.
The 28-year-old also secured the Paris 2024 Olympic quota in the mixed marathon race walking relay. Pairing up with Akshdeep Singh, she finished 18th in the mixed marathon race walking relay event at the 2024 World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Antalya earlier this year.
However, there has been a change in her partner for the mixed relay event. As per the final list prepared by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), Suraj Panwar will be paired up with Priyanka.
However, the experienced athlete will take confidence from her performances in the 2022 Commonwealth Games 2022. She became the first-ever Indian woman to clinch a silver medal in the women’s 10,000m race walk event in the competition.
Recent performances of Priyanka Goswami
Priyanka Goswami has participated in a total of four events in 2024, with two witnessing her compete in the 20 km race walk.
In February, Priyanka failed to finish the Oceanian & Australian 20km Race Walking Championships in Adelaide.
However, she had a decent outing at the Chinese Race Walking Grand Prix, where she finished seventh with a timing of 1:29:48.
It will be interesting to see if Priyanka Goswami can manage to build confidence from her earlier performance to secure a medal for the country.