Race walker Priyanka upbeat ahead of Tokyo challenge

BENGALURU: Walker Priyanka Goswami resumed training  after recovering from Covid-19 in the last week of  April. The Tokyo-bound athlete, under the  watchful eyes of coach Gurmeet Singh, is  currently focusing mostly on endurance, strength  and technique.

Spending around a fortnight in  isolation in a single room at the Sports Authority  of India, Bengaluru also meant missing out on  quality training with the Olympics less than three months away. “I had to stay in isolation after I tested positive,  and that period, though very important health  and safety wise, it was a kind of waste (as she  missed training). The time that I lost during that  period of my quarantine, I will not get it back.  But, now, it is good, as I started to train after  testing negative,” Goswami told this daily.

Despite the drawback, one can sense an air of  confidence in Goswami’s voice, and there are  reasons for it. She had ‘very mild’ symptoms so it  did not affect her much and she got back to  fitness quite quickly. 
Also, during the National  Race Walking Championship at Ra­nchi in  February, she ran 1:28:45, which  was a new national re­cord in the 20km walk,  helping her attain the Tokyo ticket as well.

She is  also the highest-ranked Indian (47) in the circuit.  Bhawna Jat, who has also qualified in the same  event, is ranked 125.  Her coach is sure that Goswami’s timing is only  going to improve in Tokyo. In fact, they are  aiming for around 1:27:00, which could make her  a podium finish contender. One look at Rio 2016,  1:28:42 was enough to fetch bronze and so was  1:27:12 (2008, bronze) in Beijing. 

Full story: newindianexpress.com