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Follow UsAfter a disappointing performance by the Indian race walking team at the Paris Olympics, one of India’s prominent speed walkers has emphasized the importance of enhancing mental resilience, highlighting that physical fitness alone is insufficient for success.
Manish Singh Rawat expressed his support for Priyanka Goswami, who has faced online criticism for her underwhelming performance, though he admitted his surprise at her subpar showing in the Olympics. He pointed out that young athletes Suraj Panwar and Paramjeet Singh Bisht, who had impressive practice times of 1:19 and 1:20 hours respectively, struggled to maintain these times in competition, compared to his own best of 1:26 hours.
Rawat stressed the need for mental toughness. “They need to be mentally strong to perform well on such a significant stage,” he told ThePrint. “To achieve better results, we need a stronger foundation and to cultivate more athletes in the future.”
The Uttarakhand native, who had finished 13th in the men’s 20km walk at the Rio 2016 Olympics, ahead of Olympic record holder Ding Chen, noted that online criticism of India’s speed walkers, including Priyanka, has intensified. The controversy arose after several athletes failed to complete their events, leading to questions about the effectiveness of their international training and their ability to handle pressure.
A 29-member Indian athletics team competed in the Paris Olympics from August 1 to 9, with race walking events starting on August 1. Priyanka participated in both the women’s 20km race walk and the mixed marathon race walk. Other Indian competitors included Suraj Panwar in the marathon race walk mixed relay final with Priyanka, and Akshdeep Singh, Vikash Singh, and Paramjeet Singh Bisht in the men’s 20km race walk.
Priyanka, 28, was at the center of controversy after finishing 41st out of 45 in the women’s 20km walk, with a time of 1 hour, 39 minutes, and 55 seconds—10 minutes slower than her season’s best of 1 hour 29 minutes and 48 seconds. Rawat expressed both disappointment and confusion over Priyanka’s failure to finish, stating, “Why Priyanka couldn’t complete the race is something even I can’t answer, but they certainly should have performed better. With 140 crore people, having 5 representatives in race walking should at least bring some results.”
The Paris race walking events faced challenging weather conditions, with the women’s race held in high humidity, with temperatures reaching 25 degrees Celsius and humidity above 85 percent.