Akshdeep Singh breaks 20km race walk national mark, Suraj Panwar qualifies for Paris

Akshdeep clocked 1 hour 19 minutes 37.56 seconds, bettering his 1:19:55 set last February at the National Open Race Walking Championships in Ranchi.

Uttarakhand's Panwar was second clocking 1:19:43.08, becoming only the second Indian to dip under 1:20. Panwar's effort though was enough to come under the Olympics qualification mark of 1:20:10s. Last year, Panwar had missed qualification by 0.01secs in Ranchi, clocking 1:20:11. Tamil Nadu's Servin finished third with a time of 1:20:29.65.

Four Indian men have now qualified for Paris. Vikas Singh and Paramjeet Bisht are the others who have made the cut. Each NOC can send a maximum of three athletes per discipline, which means the National Inter State Championships in June will serve as selection trials for the Olympics.