Budapest [Hungary], August 17 : The World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 tips off August 19 with India represented by 28 athletes. While the hopes of the nation will be pinned on Olympic gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra, his success has also become a benchmark for most Indian athletes.
Race walker Akshdeep Singh is no exception. Singh, who won gold at the Asian Race Walking Championships, hopes to impress once again at the summit event in Budapest, which will air live on JioCinema.
The 23-year-old from Barnala, Punjab said: “Neeraj sir’s medal is the first in athletics. When we walk alongside him, we see that these things become possible.” The national record-holder in race walking gave everyone a peek into how he became so proficient in the discipline while explaining how support from coaches and authorities has aided his success.
“Initially, I was training on my own. The chief coach at SAI allowed me to train with the national team. I was not a part of the team before that. I trained with coach Tatiana ma’am and received great support from the federation. When you start receiving support from everywhere, achieving any target becomes easier. I think due to these factors, I was less stressed, focused on my training, and everything felt easier,” he said.
Singh became the first Indian to qualify for the athletics events at Paris 2024 by meeting the standard qualifying time of 1:20:00 in his national record-setting walk. He laid out his goals for the WAC while also looking ahead to future competitions. “First, our target was to qualify, and once we achieved that, we started preparing for the World Championships. This is my first world-level competition, but I am fully prepared. I want to compete for a medal so that I improve and perform well on my path to events like the Asian Games, and Olympics along with improving the national record.”
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