Bhawna Jat comfortably finished with a gold in the 20km race walk event at the Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar on the opening day. In the soaking-wet humid conditions on offer, Bhawna, who had achieved the Asian Games qualification mark set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) in February, only needed to finish in the top two in the race and she did so by setting a meet record.
While Bhawna finished with a time of 1 hour, 37 minutes and 3 seconds, her rival and the Commonwealth Games silver medallist Priyanka Goswami came second in 1:40:33, well below her best. Priyanka’s national record stands at 1:28:45.
When it was put to Bhawna about the difference in timing between the pair, she was quick to point out, “It’s possible there was some problem with her body but wo bahut tagdi hai (she will come back strong).”
Priyanka revealed later that she had been suffering from dehydration a day before the final due to diarrhoea. And since it was mandatory for athletes to compete at the Inter-State, she wanted to push herself to meet the minimum target of making the top two.
In elite-level athletics, where it’s every person for themselves, competition can bring about insecurity and jealousy as they aim to leave a mark on the sport. Sports make for interesting viewing when there are rivalries involved and it’s no different when it comes to India’s top two 20km race walkers, Priyanka and Bhawna, who have been one-upping each other for the last 10 years.
Bhawna keeps referring to their competition as a ‘fight’ but insists it’s all healthy between the two since the first time they met back in 2013 as they look to push each other to new heights.
“Even from juniors we have had a good fight,” says Bhawna. “In university, she was first and I was third. We have been competitors throughout. That’s how it’s always been. But we are friends.”
Priyanka maintained that while they shared a competitive edge, the narrative around it can be overblown. “I see sometimes in media, ‘Bhawna Jat beats Priyanka Goswami’. They make a big deal about it in the media. It feels like media sometimes lifts you up a lot and waits for you to fall down. That hurts,” she says.
Since 2016, it was Priyanka who has had the edge over Bhawna in the 20km event with better timings. But in 2020, Bhawna inched ahead with nearly a 10-minute improvement in her timing by claiming the national record (1:29:54) at the Race Walking Championship in Ranchi. Priyanka, though, needed only another 12 months to make the NR record her own at the same event.
Bhawna isn’t unsettled over losing out on the feat. “Records are there to be broken. Unless she breaks it, I wouldn’t be thinking about how I can go further ahead. Records will keep falling. My target is also to better her timing and if I can’t do that then I will remain at the same place. So it’s good,” she says.
Priyanka added, “She is also an Olympian. I had also broken her record. Even in juniors, we used to play together. This has been happening where sometimes she is ahead and sometimes I am ahead.”
Priyanka (R) celebrates with teammate Bhawna Jat after winning the silver medal in the 10,000m Race Walk final at the Commonwealth Games. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Priyanka put the spotlight on race-walking when she won the silver at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year and wants to do the same as she continues preparing for the Asian Games. “Whatever event I take part in, my aim is to win a medal for my country. I want to make the race-walking event a highlight in the world events and that I would come back with medals each time,” she says.
The 27-year-old currently holds the edge between the pair with her recent performances but feels Bhawna’s positive form is a boost for India to improve its chances of finishing higher on the medals tally
“You can’t predict with race walking events but at least with the two of us, it’s a safe bet that one of us could return with a medal. If both of us go out, it’s our [bad] luck. I just hope that at least one of us wins a medal in the event,” says Priyanka.
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