Chandigarh, February 21 – Uttar Pradesh’s international race walker, Ram Baboo, and Punjab’s Manju each won gold medals in the men’s and women’s 42km full marathon walk at the 13th Indian Open Race Walk Competition held at Sukhna Lake on Saturday.
The 26-year-old race walker finished with a time of 3:09:17.00 to secure the gold medal in the challenging full marathon walk, which was introduced this season by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). In his first race of the season and following his bronze medal at the Asian Games in the 35km mixed walk team event, he narrowly surpassed his more favored competitor, Sandeep Kumar of Haryana.
Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist Sandeep Kumar finished with a silver medal, clocking in at 3:11:18.00.
Ram Baboo was excited to begin his 2026 season positively, stating he was mentally and physically ready to secure first place here in Chandigarh. “The preparation was good and I’m happy with my performance,” he said.
His primary aim this season is to achieve a podium finish at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan. “In my next race I will try to improve my performance,” Ram Baboo said of his future goal.
Manju was thrilled to secure first place in a competitive field that featured seasoned race walker and Olympian Priyanka Goswami from Uttar Pradesh.
Manju remained with the top three athletes, including Priyanka, until the 32km mark. After that, she took a decisive step forward. As the race went on, she gradually pulled ahead of Priyanka, who finished in second place. “There was no one to challenge me otherwise I could have improved my time,” Manju said in post-race interaction.
Manju’s winning time of 3:33:24.00 was nearly four minutes faster than Priyanka who finished second with a time of 3:37:25.00.
Manju’s future plans like Ram Baboo is to stay healthy and win a medal at the Asian Games in September. “Asian Games is the main target this year,” Manju added.
Manju and Ram Baboo secured bronze in the 35km mixed race walk team event at the 2022 Asian Games in China.
Army’s talented race walker Nitin Gupta took home gold in the men’s 10m race walk, representing Uttar Pradesh with a time of 41:44.00.
Reshma Patel from Uttar Pradesh won the women’s 10km race walk with a time of 46:19.00.
Results:
Men: Full marathon walk (42km): Ram Baboo (Uttar Pradesh) 3:09:17.00, Sandeep Kumar (Haryana) 3:11:18.00, Resham Midhun (Telangana) 3:12:11.00.
10km race walk: Nitin Gupta (Uttar Pradesh) 41:44.00, Rishikesh P (Tamil Nadu) 43:.11.00, Bilin George Anto (Kerala)
Women: Full marathon walk (42km): Manju (Punjab) 3:33:24.00, Priyanka Goswami (Uttar Pradesh) 3:37:25.00, Payal (Uttarakhand) 3:39:57.00.
10km race walk: Reshma Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 46:19.00, Mary Margaret K (Delhi) 47:18.00, Akshaya K (Kerala) 51:49.00.
