India’s athletics season is set to begin next month with the National Open Race Walking Championship, which will also serve as an Olympic qualifying event, the national federation announced on Wednesday.
Some international athletes will compete in the two-day championship, beginning February 13. The competition will be held in men’s 50km, men’s and women’s 20km, besides the men’s and women’s U-20 10km events under strict coronavirus protocols.
The men’s and women’s 20km and men’s 50km race walks are Olympic events. KT Irfan and Bhawana Jat have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in men’s and women’s 20km events respectively.
“The 8th Edition of National Open/4th International Race Walking Championships will be held at Ranchi (Jharkhand) on 13th & 14th February 2021. It will be a qualifying Event for Olympic Games,” the Athletics Federation of India said.
“Standard Operating Procedure prepared by AFI and other guidelines issued by the…