Amit Khatri of India took silver in the men’s 10,000m race walk at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi on Saturday, finishing in 42 minutes 17.94 seconds. Amit came in second against Kenya’s Heristone Wanyonyi, who won gold with a timing of 42:10.84. Wanyonyi overtook the Indian teenager in the last lap after he had dominated the race for the majority of it. With a time of 42:26.11, Paul McGrath of Spain brought home the bronze medal.
This is India’s second gold medal in the competition. India had previously won bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay. Khatri was in command until Kenyan walker Heristone Wanyonyi overtook him in the final few circuits. Wanyonyi crossed the finish line in 42:10.84. Spain’s Paul McGrath won bronze in 42:31.11.
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Amit had already set a new national U-20 record in a 10km race walk when he won the 18th National Federation Cup in a pace of 40:40.97 earlier this year. This was India’s second medal at this event; earlier this week, the mixed 4x400m relay team won bronze. The Indian foursome of Bharath S, Priya Mohan, Summy, and Kapil finished third in the mixed relay race with a time of 3 minutes 20.60 seconds. Khatri proceeded to set new national marks in the Junior Federation Cup in January, dominating the 10000m race walk event.
The 17-year-old established a new 40-minute national record of 40,97 seconds, ahead of state member Paramdeep Mor. It was also three minutes faster than his previous best of 43:36.26, which he set in the 2019 National Youth Championships.
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