India's Bhawna Jat Secures Olympic Qualification in 20km Race Walk, Sets New National Record

Bhawna Jat became the second Indian race walker to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after setting a new national record in 20km race walk at the National Championships in Ranchi on Saturday.

The athlete from Rajasthan clocked 1:29.54, which is inside the Olympic qualification time of 1:31.00. Bhawna’s effort was a massive improvement on her personal best of 1:38.30, set in October last year.

“My target was 1:28 to 1:29, [I] really put a lot of hard work in training over the last three months,” the athlete was quoted as saying by the Athletics Federation of India. She also thanked her parents and her department at the Indian Railways, where she employed.