New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) Two-time Olympian Priyanka Goswami and male race walker Ram Baboo will lead a 12-member Indian team at the World Race Walking Team Championships 2026, scheduled for Sunday in Brasília, Brazil.

Manju Rani, a national record holder in the marathon walk, joins the contingent alongside Servin Sebastian. The Indian lineup also includes Sahil and Akshdeep Singh, who hold national records in the 10km and 20km race walks, respectively.

Priyanka holds the national record in the 10km race walk and won a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Ram Baboo has also set national records in the 35km race walk and the marathon walk.

Organised by World Athletics, the upcoming championship will be the 31st edition of the event and will feature a format change, with more than 250 athletes from 40 countries competing in the newly standardised senior race walking distances.

The new programme replaces the traditional 20km and 35km events with the half-marathon (21.0975km) and the marathon (42.195 km), both making their senior-level debuts at the World Race Walking Team Championships.

The U20 category will include 10km races, but no Indian athletes are participating in these junior events. In senior competitions, teams are limited to five athletes, but only the top three overall finishers count towards the team score.

To qualify for the team result, a country needs at least three finishers to form a scoring team. The team score is calculated as the total of the finishing positions of these three scoring athletes.

If a team does not have three finishers, the athletes will still be recorded in their individual races, but the team will no longer be eligible for contention.

The Indian men’s team, comprising KT Irfan, Surinder Singh, and Babubhai Kesharabhai Panucha, secured a bronze medal in the men’s 20km race at the 2012 championships.

In 2022, Olympians Bhawna Jat, Ravina, and Munita Prajapati secured a bronze medal for India in the women’s 20km race walk team event.

Indian squad at World Race Walking Team Championships 2026:

Men’s marathon race walk: Ram Baboo, Sandeep Kumar

Men’s half-marathon race walk: Hardeep, Sahil, Servin Sebastian, Akshdeep Singh

Women’s marathon race walk: Payal, Priyanka Goswami, Manju Rani

Women’s half-marathon race walk: Mansi Negi, Munita Prajapati, Ravina

–IANS

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