New Delhi:Race walking is recognized as one of the few promising medal opportunities for the National Games hosts, Uttarakhand. However, it has unexpectedly been excluded from the athletics program.

This decision by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has come as a shock to both race walkers and the Uttarakhand hosts, a region known as the birthplace of the sport in India. In the last two National Games held in Gujarat and Goa, Uttarakhand secured five medals in this discipline.

It has been reported that the Uttarakhand Olympic Association, along with the state's sports department, which is responsible for organizing the National Games scheduled from January 28 to February 14, has reached out to the AFI to request the reinstatement of race walking in the Games.

“We were in preparation for the event when we suddenly learned that race walking would not take place. We are disheartened, especially since the National Games are being held in our home state, and we were eager to compete for medals here. We have strong race walkers in both the men's and women's categories,” stated Suraj Panwar, a Paris Olympian who claimed gold in the 20km race walk at the Goa National Games.

Paramjeet Singh Bisht expressed concerns, noting that since the 35km race walk was not included in the Goa Games, their focus had shifted to the 20km event. In Gujarat, both the 35km and 20km race walking competitions were conducted, while only the 20km events were featured in Goa. “We were uncertain whether the 35km would be included in Uttarakhand, but now we hear that even the 20km has been removed, which is quite surprising,” remarked Bisht, who also participated in the Paris Olympics.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has informed the Games Technical Conduct Committee that, following extensive discussions, the technical committee concluded that including the race walk event would not be in the best interests of elite athletes.

During the AFI Annual General Meeting in Chandigarh, the technical committee, while evaluating India’s performance at the Paris Olympics, resolved to enter race walkers in select competitions to help them reach their peak performance in significant international events.

This year, the primary objective will be to excel at the Asian Championships in Korea in May and the World Championships in Tokyo in September. The results of India’s five race walkers (in the 20km and mixed marathon events) at the Olympics were disappointing.

Nevertheless, the exclusion of this discipline from the National Games has not been well received by the hosts. An official remarked that it is a sport in which the state has the potential to win medals and should therefore be reinstated. “We have requested the AFI to bring back the sport. The Services team, which includes several race walkers, is also advocating for this change,” the official stated.

A coach emphasized that managing an athlete's peak performance is the responsibility of national coaches. “The significance of each competition varies. It hinges on training and the expectations set for a specific event. Excluding an event is not a viable solution. While elite athletes may be kept out, numerous promising young talents require domestic competitions. Such decisions do not serve the best interests of the sport.”

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