Breaking national record in women's 35km race walk was a big morale booster: Ramandeep Kaur

Punjab’s Ramandeep Kaur exhibited grit and endurance to win the gold medal in the women’s 35km race walk event at the ninth Indian Open National Race Walking Championships held last weekend in Ranchi.

On her way to winning the gold medal, the 23-year-old college student clocked 3::00:04, which was 13 minutes faster than the previous national record set in March by Priyanka Goswami in Muscat.

Ramandeep’s record-breaking performance added to her confidence but it fell short of the Eugene World Athletics Championship qualification mark of two hours and 54 minutes.

“On one hand I’m satisfied with my overall performance but at the same time a bit disappointed to miss out on qualification time for the World Athletics Championships,” Ramandeep told Sportskeeda. “Even if I don’t get a chance to qualify for the Worlds, the record-breaking performance was a big morale booster. I will try to break the three-hour barrier for 35km in near future.”

Punjab’s Ramandeep Kaur after winning the gold medal at the ninth Indian Open National Race Walking Championships held last week in Ranchi. (Image courtesy: AFI)

The 35km was introduced to the national calendar in early 2021. While Ramandeep’s first experience at the 35km distance was at the 2021 Open National Athletics Championships held in September, the competition in Ranchi was her second race over the grueling distance.

The lack of experience over longer races like 35km was one of the reasons Ramandeep claimed to have missed the cut for the World Athletics Championship.

“In the last six months I’ve improved 15 minutes from my personal best to clock three hours for the 35km race walk," the Punjab athlete explained. "It might take a couple more races to break the three-hour barrier."

When Ramandeep graduated to senior level in 2019, she mainly focused on the 20km race walk. Her personal best was one hour 39 minutes for the 20km event.

Following lockdown in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the Punjabi University student from Patiala struggled to stay focused.

“It was a tough time, but I managed to bounce back and win the 35km race walk title at the Open National Athletics Championships in Warangal,” she revealed.

Last year she was also selected for the national camp in Bengaluru. The national camp has now been shifted to Patiala by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

“It will be a good opportunity in the national camp to further improve my technique and performance,” Ramandeep added.

Ramandeep stepped into the athletics world during her school days way back in 2012. Winning medals in state and national meets in race walking further encouraged her to pursue athletics.

“It has been a long and hard journey," Ramandeep said. "I’m grateful to the coaches who have supported me to achieve good results at the domestic level. My main goal this year is to make an international debut. Hope I’ll be successful in improving my profile.”