Gurmeet Singh becomes first Indian to win Asian 20km Race Walk Championships

Gurmeet Singh on Sunday created history by becoming the first Indian athlete to clinch a gold medal in the Asian 20km Race Walk Championships as he won the men’s event with his season’s best effort in Nomi, Japan.

The 30-year-old Gurmeet clocked 1 hour 20 minutes and 29 seconds.

He beat Japan’s Isamu Fujisawa (1:20:49) in a close fight in the last 5km. Kazakhstan’s Georgiy Sheiko took the bronze medal in 1:21:52.

By winning the Asian title, Gurmeet has made a strong case for himself for selection in the Rio Olympic Games. Nine Indians have so far bettered the Games qualifying standard in the men’s 20km race walk and only three will make it to the final in Rio.

Gurmeet’s feat was the first time in 34 years that an Indian has won a gold in either an Asian Championships or the Asian Games in this event.

Hakam Singh and Chand Ram won a gold each in the 20km road walk in 1978 and the 1982 Asian Games, respectively. Since then, no Indian has won a gold at the continental level in this event.

Gurmeet was also sixth time lucky as he finally stood atop the podium after bagging a silver and two bronze medals in his earlier five attempts in this championships. National record holder and Rio Olympics bound athlete Khushbir Kaur, who took a bronze medal in the women’s race here two years ago, withdrew from this year’s competitions with an injury.