KT Irfan the 1st athlete to qualify for Tokyo olympics
March 18, 2019
KT Irfan the National record holder became the 1st Indian from athletics to qualify for the up- coming olympics while finishing 4th in the 20km event of the Asian Race Walking Championships in Nomi, Japan. The 29-year-old athlete clocked 1:20:57 to better the Tokyo olympics qualification standard of 1:21. The olympics qualification period for the race walk events and marathon race began on January 1, 2019, and will run till May 31, 2020. The olympics qualification period for all other athletics events would run from May 1 this year until June 29, 2020. No other Indian from athletics has so far qualified for the Tokyo olympics. Irfan qualified for this year’s World Championships (September 27-October 6) in Doha, Qatar, as he bettered the qualifying mark of 1:22.30.
