On Saturday, as India had their eyes glued to the Birmingham wrestling arena, a piece of Athletics the story was written by the 26 year old devotee of Lord Krishna from Muzaffarnagar.
In gold medal position for the first 4000m of the women’s 10000m race walk, Priyanka lost first place to Australian Jemima Montag. But she had enough fuel in the tank to finish second for a historic silver medal with a personal best of 43:38.83.
Saturday for Indian athletics became even more special and historic when Avinash Sable broke through Kenya’s dominance in the 3000m steeplechase to win a silver medal with a new national record.
With four medals so far in athletics – Tejaswin Shankar in high jump and Murali Sreeshankar in long jump being the others – it is now Indian athletics’ best performance in a CWG outside India.
(Priyanka led the field to the 4000m mark – ANI Photo)
Holder of the national record for the 20 km walk, which is her favorite event, Priyanka was doing her first race on the track, instead of the road, since 2014.
The 20km walk is not part of the Birmingham CWG programme, while the 10km version is not an Olympic event.
“It was a different feeling to compete on the track… I did 20km and 35km, so 10km was not difficult. I did the 35km at the World Championships in the United States last month. last, so I gained confidence from there,” Priyanka said, speaking to reporters in Birmingham during an online press conference. TimesofIndia.com was one of them.
For the first 4000m, she took the lead then was pushed to second place, before dropping to third place at the 5000m mark.
“Before the race I wanted to emulate what I had done in training, I wanted to record my best 5k time,” she said.
“In one of the laps I slowed down, (otherwise) I was mostly there in second position. Montag was running behind me, not trying to overtake, I was shocked. I didn’t want to run slow. With Kenyan (bronze medalist Emily Wamusyi Ngii), we were around each other,” Priyanka said, speaking of the race action.
(Priyanka showing the statue of Lord Krishna and her nails painted with the tricolor flag, the Olympic rings and the countries she has traveled to compete – Photo ANI)
In the 5000m, Priyanka talked herself out and before she touched the 9000m she was back at No. 2.
“Priyanka paanch lap bache hain, abb slow nahi hona. Apne pe dhyan de, Kenya wali ladki pe dhyan nahi dena (five rounds left, don’t slow down now, focus on yourself, not the Kenyan)”, she said. journalists about the promise she made to herself halfway through.
“It’s difficult to win a walking (running) medal at international level. I opened my account, that’s the most important thing. There will be more in the coming times,” she said. almost swear.
Priyanka only received one warning (yellow card) throughout the race, which the walkers consider an achievement. But she was unhappy to have been warned even once when she had completed 5 km without fail.
“I was angry. I went 6 km without warning… But I was not disturbed, I ignored it and concentrated on my time,” she said.
(Picture: Instagram)
However, she wants to stay focused on the 20 km event.
“The goal is to give my personal best over 20km. I will work hard (to achieve that) and then there will be the Asian Games and the World Championships next year,” Priyanka added.
A girl who loves to be pampered and make fashion statements, Priyanka joked at the mention of an upcoming modeling contract after this achievement.
“Woh to pata nhi, jab milega pakka bataungi (I don’t know, I’ll tell you if I get it). But I like to wear what’s fashionable… Even before I go shopping, I’m thinking about how to wear the kit, what hairstyle I should have,” she said with a smile.
