World Athletics Championships: India’s Sandeep Kumar 23rd, Priyanka 24th in 35km race walk

Indian race walkers faced disappointment at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday. Sandeep Kumar and Priyanka Goswami secured 23rd and 24th positions in their respective 35km events.Ram Baboo received his fourth red card and was disqualified from the men's 35km race walk after covering 24km. Baboo, the current national record holder with a time of 2:29:56, was among six walkers disqualified from the 50-athlete field.The competition saw 34 athletes complete the race, while 10 others did not finish. Six participants were disqualified for rule violations.Sandeep Kumar, aged 39, completed the race in 2:39:15 to secure 23rd place. Despite qualifying at the last minute, he couldn't surpass his personal and season's best of 2:35:06 in the challenging hot and humid conditions.In the women's event, national record holder Priyanka finished 24th among 46 participants with a time of 3:05:58. She spent three and a half minutes in the penalty box after receiving her third red card but managed to complete the race.Priyanka's current national record stands at 2:56:34. The women's event saw one athlete disqualified and seven others unable to finish.In another event, Pooja participated in the women's 1500m race. She finished 11th in heat two with a time of 4:13.75 in a field of 14 athletes. Her personal best remains at 4:09.52.Pooja is scheduled to compete in the 800m event on September 18.