India’s Servin Sebastian wrapped up the country’s efforts at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a 31st-place finish in the men’s 20km race walk on Saturday. He clocked 1:23:03 in a field of 48 competitors, marking the end of India’s medal-less campaign this year.
This comes after Neeraj Chopra’s standout performances—grabbing silver in 2022 and a historic gold in 2023. Unfortunately, India couldn’t add to its tally after those successes. For context, Akshdeep Singh holds the Indian national record in the 20km race walk at 1:19:55, set during the 2023 National Open Race Walking Championships in Jharkhand.
Brazil’s Caio Bonfim, who earned silver in the Paris 2024 Olympics, took gold with a time of 1:18:35. China’s Wang Zhaozhao, the Asian champion, claimed silver at 1:18:43, while Spain’s Olympic standout Paul McGrath rounded out the podium with bronze in 1:18:45.
India sent a strong 19-member team to Tokyo, competing in 15 events. The spotlight fell on javelin star Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic gold medalist, but he couldn’t defend his world title. He finished eighth with a best throw of 84.03 meters, snapping his impressive streak of top-two finishes in 26 straight events. Fellow Indian Sachin Yadav shone brighter, landing fourth with a throw of 86.27 meters—just missing the medals.
High jumper Sarvesh Kushare made waves too, becoming the first Indian in his event to reach the World Athletics Championships final. He cleared a personal best of 2.28 meters to take sixth place. In the women’s 800m, Pooja hit a career-best 2:01.03 but finished last in her heat, falling short of the finals.
Looking back, India boasts just three medals across the history of the World Athletics Championships. Anju Bobby George kicked it off with bronze in the long jump back in 2003. Neeraj Chopra added silver in javelin in 2022, then made history with gold in Budapest the following year, throwing 88.17 meters.
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