World Athletics C'ships: Priyanka, Sandeep finish outside top 20 in 35km racewalk; Ram Baboo disqualified

India had a forgettable start to their 2025 World Athletics Championships campaign in Tokyo as the 35km racewalkers Priyanka Goswami and Sandeep Kumar finished outside the top 20 in their respective events on Friday.

While Goswami finished 24th in women's 35km racewalk with a timing of 3:05:58s, Sandeep crossed the finish line 23rd in men's 35km racewalk, clocking 2:39:15s.

On the other hand, the Indian men's 35km racewalk national record holder, Ram Baboo, was disqualified from the event after he was shown four red cards.

Evan Dunfee of Canada won the men's 35km racewalk gold with a timing of 2:28:22s, ahead of Caio Bonfim of Brazil and Hayato Katsuki of Japan.

Meanwhile, in the women's 35km racewalk, Maria Perez of Spain was crowned the world champion with a time of 2:39:01s. Antonella Palmisano of Italy and Paula Milena Torres of Ecuador took home the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Pooja exits in women's 1500m heats

Later in the day, Pooja bowed out in the women's 1500m heats in what was her World Athletics Championships debut.

She clocked 4:13.75s to finish 11th in the second heat of the event, failing to secure a semi-final spot.

All is not over, however, for Pooja.

She'll be in action in the women's 800m event later at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.