Two-time Olympian Priyanka Goswami and male race walker Ram Baboo will head a 12-member Indian team at the World Race Walking Team Championships 2026 in Brasília, Brazil. The team includes national record holder Manju Rani and Servin Sebastian, along with Sahil and Akshdeep Singh, who hold national records in race walking. Priyanka holds the national record in the 10km race walk and won a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, while Ram Baboo has set national records in the 35km race walk and marathon walk.
Organized by World Athletics, the upcoming championship will be the 31st edition of the event and will introduce a format change. More than 250 athletes from 40 countries will compete in the newly standardized senior race walking distances. The new program will feature the half-marathon (21.0975km) and the marathon (42.195 km) events, replacing the traditional 20km and 35km races at the senior level.
The U20 category will have 10km races, but no Indian athletes will participate in these junior events. In senior competitions, teams are limited to five athletes, with only the top three overall finishers contributing to the team score. To qualify for the team result, a country must have at least three finishers forming a scoring team, with the team score calculated based on the finishing positions of these three athletes. If a team lacks three finishers, they will still compete individually but will not be eligible for the team score.
The Indian men’s team, consisting of KT Irfan, Surinder Singh, and Babubhai Kesharabhai Panucha, secured a bronze medal in the men’s 20km race at the 2012 championships. In 2022, Olympians Bhawna Jat, Ravina, and Munita Prajapati claimed a bronze medal for India in the women’s 20km race walk team event.
