Walker Irfan wins Asian bronze
IRFAN WINNING MARKED A GOOD COMEBACK. HE HAD BATTLED INJURIES IN THE PAST ONE YEAR AND HAD FAILED TO ACHIEVE THE RIO QUALIFICATION MARK
India’s national 20km race walk record holder, KT Irfan, announced his comeback at the international level by winning bronze medal in the Asian Race Walking Championships at Nomi, Japan on Sunday.
The Army athlete clocked 1 hour, 20 minutes 59 seconds to win bronze.Korea’s Kim Hyunsub (1:19.50) retained the title while Kazakhstan’s Georgiy Sheiko (1:20:47) won the silver.
Kim had a slow opening 5km, clocking 19 minutes 43 seconds. However, he picked up pace in next 5km section to catch up with the leading group. From there, he further pushed the pace to cross the finish line nearly a minute ahead of Sheiko, his nearest rival to complete a hattrick of victories in the event.
Irfan finishing among the medals marked a good comeback.
He had battled injuries in the past one year and had failed to achieve the Rio Olympics qualification mark after his training was interrupted due to injury.
However, he was impressive while winning the national meet held in Delhi last month, his first competition of the season.
In the nationals, Irfan clocked 1:22:43 to achieve qualification for the World Athletics Champi- onships, to be held in London in August. He had then said he has reserved his best for the continental meet, which he proved on Sunday.
His performance in Japan raises hopes that he could improve his national record of 1: 20: 21, set at the 2012 London Olympics, where he finished 10th.
In women’s 20km walk, Priyanka finished fourth. She clocked 1:37:42. China’s Wang Na won gold clocking 1:30:51.