Rawat, Irfan disappoint in men's 20 km walk

Khushbir Kaur placed a creditable fourth while Soumya Baby was disqualified in the corresponding event for women

India’s race walkers Manish Singh Rawat and K T Irfan disappointed in the men’s 20 km walk at the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.

The former finished sixth with a time of 1.22.22 seconds, while Irfan was way behind at 13th in 1.27.34 seconds. 

Australia's Dane Bird-Smith won the gold with a Games' record time of 1.19.34 seconds. In a keen contest, he was just four  seconds ahead of England's Tom Bosworth.

Kenya's Samuel Ireri Gathimba was third in 1.19.51 seconds.

Rawat and Irfan had a season's best time of 1:21:31s, as their first and second placings were decided after a photo-finish in the National Championships.

Khushbir Kaur placed a creditable fourth while Soumya Baby was disqualified in the corresponding event for women as  per rule 230.6 of the IAAF's race rules, which states that a player will be disqualified for "loss of contact" or "bent knee".

Kushbir’s timing of  1:39:21s was a little over three minutes behind that of bronze medalllist Bethan Davis of Wales.

Soumya was disqualified before she could near the 8-km mark.

Jemina Montag of Australia won the gold in 1:32.50s while New Zealand’s Alana Barber (1:35.18s) and Davies of Wales (1:36.08s) took silver and bronze respectively.

Bird-Smith broke away from the pack with the finish line in sight, with Bosworth and Gathimba in hot pursuit, to finish with a record timing..

Gathimba’s bronze was Kenya's first-ever Games race walking medal. 

Bird-Smith said the home crowd made all the difference in the final stretch of the race. 

"The last 500m hurt so much but I had everyone behind me which made it so special," he said. 

"It was unbelievable, an unreal feeling. I am over the moon and I cannot thank (the crowd) enough. As I came around the bend they went absolutely ballistic." 

With race walk not included on the program in Glasgow four years ago, it was Bird-Smith's first Games, first gold and first Games record.

Bosworth's time of 1:19.34s was a personal best and English national record. After being disqualified from the 2017 World Championships, he said the race, record and medal win was redemption.