Akshdeep Singh (born 22 November 1999) is an Indian athlete from Punjab who competes in the 20 kilometres race walk. He holds the Indian National record in 20km race walk.[1] He qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in the 20 km race walk[2] and the mixed marathon race walking, along with Priyanka Goswami.[3][4]
Early life and education
editSingh was born in Kahneke village, Barnala district, Punjab. His father is a farmer. He passed his first five classes from the government school of his village and he did his tenth grade studies from the nearby village of Kaleke. Singh has completed his graduation from Punjabi University Patiala.[2] In an interview with Sportstar, he said that his dream as a 10 year old was to join Indian Army, so he started running to pass the recruitment drive. The trajectory of Akshdeep's life changed when he met his first athletics coach, Jaspreet Singh.[5]
Career
editSingh and Priyanka Goswami qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon event, finishing 18th in the World Race Walking Team Championship in Antalya, Turkey on 21 April 2024.[6][7] The Indian duo clocked 3:05:03 to meet the qualifying mark. On 30 January 2024, he set the National record at the South Asian and Indian Race Walking Championships at Chandigarh clocking 1:19:38.[1]
On 14 February 2023, he won the gold medal in the 20 km race walk at the Indian Race Walking Championships at Ranchi clocking 1:19:55.[8] Later, on 19 March 2023, he took part in the 47th All Japan race walking meet and finished 12th. In October 2022, he won a silver medal at the National Open Athletics Championships at Sree Kantheerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru.[8] In 2022, he also won the inter-university gold at Moodbidri, Karnataka on 5 January and the Khelo India University Games in May at Bengaluru.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b "Already qualified for Olympics, race walker Akshdeep breaks own national record in men's 20km event and make new national record 1:19:38 seconds". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
- ^ a b "Already qualified for Paris 2024 Olympics, race walker Akshdeep breaks own NR in men's 20km event". Sportstar. 2024-01-30. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
- ^ "India's Priyanka Goswami and Akshdeep Singh secure Olympic quota in race walk mixed relay event". Firstpost. 2024-04-22. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
- ^ "Paris Olympics 2024: India's Priyanka Goswami And Akshdeep Singh Qualifies For Race Walk Mixed Relay Event". Sentinel Assam. 2024-04-26. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
- ^ PTI (2023-03-05). "From dream of joining Army, Punjab's Akshdeep Singh makes a mark in race-walking". Sportstar. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ "Paris Olympics: Akshdeep, Priyanka secure Mixed Marathon Race Walking relay spot". India Today. 2024-04-21. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
- ^ Nag, Utathya (2024-04-21). "Priyanka Goswami-Akshdeep Singh secure marathon race walk mixed relay Paris 2024 Olympics quota for India". www.olympics.com. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
- ^ a b c "Akshdeep SINGH | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2024-04-27.