Bhawna Jat books Tokyo 2020 berth, breaks national record in 20 km race walk event
February 15, 2020, Ranchi
Bhawna Jat broke the national record in the 20 km race walk event at the 7th National Race Walk Championships in Ranchi on Saturday. The 24-year-old from Rajasthan also earned a berth in Tokyo 2020 by finishing the race ahead of the automatic Olympic qualification mark.
The 24-year-old clocked 1:29.54, comfortably beating the Olympic qualification mark of 1:31.00 at the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) calendar event. No Indian woman had breached the 1:31.00 mark in the 20 km race walk event before Bhawna’s performance on Saturday.
Bhawna’s previous best in this category was 1:38.30, set in October last year. She has improved her personal best by almost 9 minutes. She has also bettered the previously existing national record by almost 2 minutes.
Bhawna will be following up on her sensational performance at the Nationals at the Asian Race Walking Championship next month.
Bhawna is India’s second race walker to book a ticket to Tokyo. KT Irfan earned his berth in the men’s race walk event in May last year.
In the 2016 Olympics, India’s Manish Rawat had lost out on the bronze medal by less than a minute in the 20 km race walk event.
