Delhi: Vikash buoyant after cracking Olympic code

Delhi’s 28-year-old international race walker Vikash Singh was elated as he was selected for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games starting July 26. 

“I was lucky to make the cut due to better average performance over the last one year,” he told Patriot. 

The athletics event in Paris will start from August 1 and till 11. 

Out of the four Indian male race walkers who had achieved automatic qualification time of 1:20:10 before the June 30, 2024 deadline, only three individual athletes were eligible to compete at the Olympic Games, as per World Athletics policy. 

“I’ve crossed the first hurdle. I’m all focused on the main event in Paris now,” he said. 

Race walk will be the first event of athletics on August 1. 

Akshdeep Singh and Paramjeet Singh Bisht are the other two Indian race walkers who will compete in the individual men’s 20km race walk along with the Delhi athlete. 

Suraj Panwar, another race walker, has been shortlisted for the newly introduced marathon race walk mixed relay event at the Olympic Games. 

Priyanka Goswami, international race walker, is the lone Indian female athlete who has qualified to compete in the women’s 20km race walk in Paris. She will also compete in the marathon race walk mixed relay event. 

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According to Singh, the last leg of the Olympic Games preparation is all about fine tuning and adapting to race. 

“The men’s 20km race walk will start at 11 am (Paris time). We are sometimes training during odd hours to get used to mid-day summer time in Europe,” said the Delhi race walker from his training base in Bengaluru.

According to Singh, normal practice times in Bengaluru are morning and evening. The day starts at around 6 am and evening session begins between 4 to 5 pm. 

“As per the news, local weather in Paris would be comparatively warmer than 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held in Japan in 2021,” he explained. 

“So, the main task is to get ready for the local weather conditions,” he added.

In the last one year, Singh said, it was challenging to maintain good performance over a long period of time.

“Apart from enduring physical stress due to high volume of training for a gruelling event like 20km race walk, the mental and emotional side is overlooked,” added the Delhi race walker who will make his Olympic debut. 

“We have to look after our parents too.”

Singh is currently employed with the Indian Navy via sports quota and has been attending the national camp in preparation for the Paris Olympic Games since November 2023. 

Though some of the Paris-bound Indian athletes have shifted their last leg of training to Europe, the national race-walking team has preferred to practice in Bengaluru. 

“We are comfortable in Bengaluru and will reach Paris on July 28,” Singh added.