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29-year-old, CWG medallist race walker, Priyanka Goswami on Saturday, March 22 set a national record in the women's 35km event at the Dudinska 50 competition in Dudince, Slovakia. Goswami race walked, finishing with a timing of 2:56:34 to end at 11th place in the 44th edition of the Dudinska 50, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold Label meet held on the streets of Dudince every March. Her previous record timing was 3:13:19. Goswami, a two-time Olympian, broke the old national mark of 2:57:54, previously established by Manju Rani at the 2023 National Open Race-Walking Championships in Ranchi.
Goswami also holds the record for the 20km race walk with timing of 1:28:45, which she successfully set at the 2021 National Open Race-Walking Championships in Ranchi. This win was the gateway to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Besides this, she had previously won a silver medal in the 10,000km race walk at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Meanwhile, Paula Milena Torres (2:44:26) of Ecuador clinched the victory in women's 35km race walk event. Peruvian Kimberly García (2:45:59) and Polish Katarzyna Zdziebło (2:46:59) finished second, and third, respectively.
India's growing lead in international race-walking games
Priyanka Goswami isn't the only racewalker to set India's name in the centre. Akashdeep Singh, the national record holder for the men's 20km race walk, finished sixth with a timing of 1:24:13. The Dudinska 50 continues to attract world-class competitors, and Goswami's record-breaking performance demonstrates India's growing competitiveness in race walking on a global scale.
Hailing from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka comes from a humble family background. Her sports journey began as an IX student, before switching to athletics, and then to racewalking. Priyanka is presently holding 30th rank in Women's 20km racewalking. Besides being an athlete, Priyanka is currently working as a clerk for Indian Railways.
