Tokyo Olympics: Gurpreet Singh drops out of men's 50km racewalking finals due to cramps

India's Gurpreet Singh dropped out of the men's 50 km race walk event as he suffered from cramps after completing around 35 km. The men’s final event was held at the Sapporo Odori Park and many competitors were visibly struggling due to heat and humidity. At the 25 km mark, Gurpreet was at the 49th position with the time of 2:01:54.

Polish Race walker Dawid Tomala took the lead at the 30 km mark and went on to remarkably win the race. He too had discomfort and was at risk of getting injured but he kept pushing. At one stage, his lead was over three minutes, which was enough to push him over the finish line. Tomala became the Olympic Champion and recorded the timing of 3:50:08. The silver medal was won by Germany's Jonathan Hilbert with the timing of 3:50:44 and the bronze medal was bagged by Canada's Evan Dunfee with the timing of 3:50:59.

Gurpreet Singh was India's only competitor in the Men's 50 km racewalks finals event. Singh recorded 3:59:42 at the national championships in February earlier this year and managed to break the four-hour barrier. India's KT Irfan, Sandeep Kumar and Rahul competed in the men's 20km race walk on Thursday and failed to finish in the top ten. Sandeep finished the race at the 23rd position, Rahul at the 47th position and Irfan finished the farthest of the three at the 52nd position.

Gurpreet's journey to the Olympic Games

To qualify for the Olympic Games, the committee had set an entry standard for the men’s 50km race walk at 3:50:00. Only 60 athletes could participate in the event and no country can register more than three competitors. The target time was achieved by 38 athletes and had left space for another 22 athletes to qualify via world ranking. Gurpreet Singh qualified through the world ranking as he was ranked 104th in the world. His highest-ever career ranking is 80th. Singh has been competing in various 50 km race events across the world since 2012. In an event in Russia in 2012, he finished the race with a time of 4:21:19. He has significantly improved in the last two years. In 2020, he finished an event with the timing of 4:09:44. He further reduced his finishing time and finished under the four-hour mark at the national championship. This allowed him to be at his peak for the Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo.

 (With ANI inputs)