India's ace athlete Ram Baboo finished 27th in the men's 35km race walk final event at the World Athletics Championships 2023 on Thursday, August 24. Spain's Alvaro Martin secured a gold medal in the men's event while Maria Perez entered the history book as she finished the women's event with a record time in Budapest.
Ram Baboo, 24, finished the race with a time of two hours, 39 minutes and seven seconds to claim the 27th position. Earlier in the Dudinska 50 2023 event in Dudince, Baboo grabbed the attention by setting a national record by finishing the 35 km race in two hours, 29 minutes and 56 seconds. But struggled to impress at the World Athletics Championships.
In the women's event, Perez finished the 35km race walk final event with a record time of 2:38:40s, over two minutes ahead of the silver medalist and the former champion defending champion Kimberly Garcia Leon. Peru's Leon finished the race with a time of two hours, 40 minutes and 52 seconds to win the silver medal. Greece's veteran athlete Antigoni Ntrismpioti won the bronze with a finish time of two hours, 43 minutes and 22 seconds.
Martin faced tough competition from Ecuador’s Brian Pintado but managed to finish the men's event in two hours 24 minutes and 30 seconds, with a narrow lead of four seconds. Japan's 24-year-old Masatora Kawano finished third with a time of two hours, 25 minutes and 12 seconds to clinch the bronze medal.
Meanwhile, India's 21-year-old Jeswin Aldrin will feature in the men's long jump final event on Thursday. India have recorded only two medals (one silver and one bronze) in the World Athletics Championships history and continue to wait for a first medal in the ongoing tournament.
