Walkers Priyanka, Akshdeep qualify for Paris Olympics

India's mixed relay team comprising Akshdeep Singh and Priyanka Goswami qualified for Paris Olympics by virtue of their 18th place finish at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Antalya, Turkey, on Sunday.

The top-22 teams automatically qualify for the quadrennial extravaganza and the Indian duo clocked a personal best time of 3:05.03 across the 42.195 km distance that they covered.

The format of mixed team relay walk warrants the man and woman to alternately cover the said distance.

The man first walks 12.195 km and then the woman covers 10km followed by another 10 km from the man and the final 10km by the woman. There is a 20 metre distance for the changeover before each leg starts.

The event was won by the Italian team represented by Francesco Fortunato and Valentina Trapletti, who won the gold medal with a timing of 2:56:45.

This is also the duo's personal best timing. They were followed by Japan's Koki Ikeda and Kumiko Okada, who clocked their personal best time of 2:57:04.

The bronze was taken by the Spanish duo of Alvaro Martin and Laura Garcia-Caro, who finished the race in 2:57:47.