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.
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 won 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 men’s 20km race walk and only three will make it to the final in Rio.
In the women’s 20km walk race event, National Games champion Sapna finished fourth in a time of 1:35:57.
China’s Rui Liang won the gold in 1:28:43 while Kumiko Okada of Japan (1:30:03) and South Korean Jeongeun Lee (1:33:53) took the silver and bronze respectively.
