It is easy to see Ram Baboo's amazing rise through the lens of his humble upbringing. It's undoubtedly inspirational with its rags-to-riches story, but it's more than that. With a personal best of 1:20:00, the 25-year-old placed third at the Dudinska 50 Meet in Slovakia last Saturday. During the process, he also broke the qualifying mark of 1:20:10 at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Baboo is the eighth male walker from India to qualify for Paris. At the Asian Games in Hangzhou, he won a bronze medal in the 35 km walk. While Baboo is back at his base at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune, the others - Akshdeep Singh, Suraj Panwar, Servin Sebastian, Arshpreet Singh, Pramjeet Bisht and Vikas Singh - are currently training in South Africa under race walking coach Tatiana Sibileva. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will select the squad likely in June. Each nation can field up to three walkers per category.
However, before that, Baboo will participate in the World Team Walking Championships in Antalya. He is sure to impress as he trained in Antalya for a month after last year's Asian Games.
Baboo faced harsh and demanding weather at the Slovakian race with temperatures of up to 7°C. On the morning of the marathon, the situation was not helped by persistent drizzle. In addition, the pace and rhythm of the race was not at all like that of Baboo. The event in Dudince was different, although the Indian race walkers train to cover the 20 km course faster in the first half than in the second. Baboo must have been doing frantic calculations on the fly as the lead group was slowly pulling away.
Baboo switched from marathon running to race walking about six years ago, and in just a week she learned the ins and outs of this demanding sport. Athletes are required by race walking rules to maintain visual contact with the ground with one foot at all times. In addition, the front knee of the walker cannot bend when the body crosses them. Baboo's dad doesn't have to work anymore because his sports achievements bring him money. In addition, a young person builds a house in his village - an achievement that was unthinkable just a year ago.
