Ram Baboo and Manju Rani set national records in 35km race walk, secure Asian Games berth

However, both athletes failed to qualify for the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Race walkers Ram Baboo and Manju Rani set new National Records in the men’s and women’s 35km race walk at the 2023 National Open Race Walking Championship, Jharkhand. The duo also booked their places in the 2022 Asian Games to be held later this year. Ram Baboo from Uttar Pradesh clocked  2:36:04 seconds to claim first place but missed out on the qualifying mark for the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

In the women’s section, Manju Rani from Punjab clocked 2:57:54 seconds breaking the national record which was created by Ramandeep Kaur at 3:00:04. The AFI (Athletics Federation of India) had set the qualifying mark for Asian Games at 2:35:00 seconds for men’s and 2:58:30 seconds for women’s.

However, both athletes failed to qualify for the World Athletics Championships with the men’s qualification standard for the event set at 2:29:40 seconds and women’s at 2:51:30 seconds. The 35 km race walk is a new event in India that was started in 2021 as the World Athletics body moved away from the 50km race walk after the Tokyo Olympics. Earlier, Priyanka Goswami and Akshdeep Singh both qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 20km race walk.

Men's 35km results

1. Ram Baboo - 2:31:36 

2. Junaid - 2:36:04

3. Chandan Singh - 2:36:55

Women's 35km results 

1. Manju - 2:57:54 

2. Payal - 3:05.43 

3. Vandana Patel - 3:11:35

Performance of Ram Baboo in the past year

3:07:14 - World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships, Muscat

2:41:30 - Indian Race Walking Championships, Ranchi

2:36:34 - National Games, Gujarat

2:39:05 - National Open Athletics Championships, Bengaluru

Performance of Manju Rani in the past year

3:07:49 - Indian Race Walking Championships, Ranchi

3:22:32 - National Games, Gujarat

3:17:02 - National Open Athletics Championships, Bengaluru