Race-walker Sagar Joshi strides back from Covid to win silver at National Championships

AHMEDABAD: In November 2020, when Covid cases in India were ebbing, Sagar Joshi, a national-level race-walker, was admitted to the Army Hospital in Pune with moderate

Covid-19

. A havaldar in the Indian Army, Joshi left no stone unturned to stay fit even while in the hospital — practising in the ward for an hour with walking drills and doing push-ups and yoga.


His determination was evident in his first race after Covid in February, when he won bronze at the 50km race walking in the 8th Open National & 4th International Race Walking Championship in Ranchi.

On Friday, at the 60th National Open

Athletics

Championships 2021 in

Warangal

, the race-walker from Ahmedabad did better — winning silver in the 35km

race-walk

with a time of 2:53:43.

Ram Baboo from UP won gold in a time of 2:46:31, while bronze was claimed by Surinder Singh of Punjab in 2:54:22.

“My aim was to win gold, but I had participated in a 50km race walk competition in Bhubaneswar 15 days ago. The conditions there were harsh. I still managed to win a medal here. I am happy.” Joshi said.