The 13th Indian Open race walk competition in Chandigarh over the weekend will see some of India’s prominent names in action competing across new distances for the first time as per World Athletics norms.
The standard distance in race walk till last year was 20km and 35km in all World Athletics events before it was changed to 21km and 42km. The men’s half marathon will feature Paris Olympians Akshdeep Singh, Paramjeet Singh Bisht, Suraj Panwar and Vikash Singh along with 2025 World Championships participant and winner in the 20km last year Servin Sebastian. Germany’s Frederick Weigel is the lone foreign entry in the 21km.
With only nine entries in the women’s 42km, focus will be on Priyanka Goswami with the AFI inviting three foreign judges for the two-day event to avoid any embarrassment like last year when the women’s 35km race ended short and its results nullified.
Saturday: 42km walk and 10km race walk; Sunday: 21km walk and 5km race walk (Under-20 men and women).
Published – February 21, 2026 05:00 am IST
