CHENNAI: How things can change in a year. Racewalker Priyanka Gowswami had been mulling about a missed opportunity, having failed to cement the Tokyo Olympics berth during last year’s national championships. Shy of her goal by 36 seconds then, it was back to the drawing board after that. Amid pandemic, she had to be patient and had to remain level-headed to realise her Olympic dream.
On Saturday, her patience paid off as her dream became a reality. What’s more, Priyanka did it in style. It was double joy for the Meerut athlete when she erased the women’s national record during the national open race walking championhips in Ranchi and also qualified for the Games. Along with her, Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Kumar also booked Olympic berths, in the first major athletics meet since lockdown.
The tally of racewalkers who have qualified for the Games has now swelled to five with KT Irfan and Bhawana Jat having already made the cut. The 24-year-old clocked 1:28:45 on Saturday — breaching the Olympic qualification mark of 1:30:00 comfortably. “I feel happy to have qualified for the Tokyo event with a good mark,” Priyanka tells this daily.
She believes the surprise hiatus due to the pandemic was a blessing in disguise and it propelled her to push hard. With just four-five weeks’ break in the last year, the rigorous practice was the reason she achieved her target, she says. “I was hoping to achieve the mark in the Asian Championships. Due to the pandemic, all of the events were cancelled and we lost a year’s time in that. But I worked hard. It was important to train continuously with the target in mind,” Priyanka, who trains under Olympian Gurmeet Singh, adds.
“The focus was on endurance training. As far as racewalking is concerned, you don’t have to fret over strength training. My only target was to finish it in 1:28 minutes. And I did it.” Meanwhile, Sandeep bettered the earlier national record of 1:20:21, which was jointly held by Irfan and Devender Singh. Rahul finished second by clocking 1:24:41. Men: 1. Sandeep 1:20:16; 2. Rahul 1:24:41; 3. Hardeep 1:47:47. Women: 1. Priyanka 1:28:45; 2. Bhawana 1:32:59; 3. Sonal 1:36:05.