Priyanka Goswami is an Indian athlete who is known for participating in the 20 kilometres race walk. She is also known for making a national record of 43:38.82 in the women’s 10,000m race walk at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where she won the gold medal.
Wiki/Biography
Priyanka Goswami was born on Sunday, 10 March 1996 (age 26 years; as of 2022) in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. her hometown is Sagdi Village, Muzaffarnagar. Her zodiac sign is Pisces. She did her schooling at Kanohar Lal Girls School, Meerut. She pursued a bachelor of arts degree at B K Maheshwari Inter-college, Meerut.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 4 ”
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Priyanka’s father’s name is Madanpal Goswami, who is a bus conductor.
Priyanka Goswami with her father
Her mother’s name is Anita Goswami, who is a homemaker.
Priyanka Goswami with her mother
Her brother’s name is Kapil Goswami, who was a state-level boxer.
Priyanka Goswami with her brother
Religion
Priyanka’s Instagram post refers to her as a Krishna devotee which depicts that she follows Hinduism.
A snip from Priyanka Goswami’s Instagram profile about her religious views
Tattoo
- She has a tattoo inked on her left hand.
Priyanka Goswami’s tattoo on her hand
- She has a tattoo on her right leg.
Priyanka Goswami’s tattoo on her leg
Career
In 2017, she won the gold medal at the All India Inter-university racewalking championship.
A collage posted by Priyanka Goswami after she won the Indian Racewalking championships in 2017
In 2017, she participated in the Indian Racewalking championships and won a gold medal. In 2018, she won a gold medal at the All India railway competition. In 2020, she won a silver medal in the Indian Race Walking Championships. In 2021, she bagged the gold medal in Indian Racewalking Championship in the 20 km race and qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Priyanka Goswami at the Indian Racewalking Championship
In 2022, she won a silver medal in the 10,000m race walk in the Commonwealth Games.
Priyanka Goswami wins silver medal at Commonwealth Games 2022
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- In January 2021, she received the Rani Laxmi bai award for qualifying Tokyo Olympics.
Priyanka Goswami wins Rani Laxmi bai award for qualifying Tokyo Olympics
- In February 2021, she was felicitated with an award by sports minister Kiren Rijiju.
Priyanka Goswami receives an award by sports minister Kiren Rijiju
- In March 2021, she won the Main Bhi Shakti Award under the campaign started by Times Groups.
Priyanka Goswami wins Main Bhi Shakti Award
- In December 2021, she won the Spotlight of the Year Award by the Go Sports Foundation.
Priyanka Goswami wins Spotlight of the Year Award
Facts/Trivia
- Gaurav Tyagi and Gurmeet Singh coach Priyanka.
- She follows a vegetarian diet.
- When she was in class six, one of her teachers asked if she wanted to become a part of the gymnastics team in school. She agreed to be part of the team and joined the hostel of KD Singh Stadium in Lucknow for practice sessions. In the stadium, once, she participated in an 800 m race and won the race. After winning the race, she realized that she had good stamina. She wanted to switch her game to racewalking but was not allowed to do so, she left the hostel and went back home. She took three to four years of break from sports and eventually returned to the stadium to train for athletics. She participated in many track competitions, but she was unable to win any awards, which is when her coach suggested she try her hands at racewalking. In 2011, she participated in the first race walking event when she was in class twelfth and came third in the race.
- Her parents and teachers were very supportive. Her teachers would allow her to miss classes so that she could attend her practice sessions. In an interview, she talked about the support she received from her family and said,
I was never stopped from doing anything. Right from my childhood, I used to play with boys, and even though I came from a village, my parents never stopped me from doing anything. My uncles and other relatives did try to restrict me, but it did not really matter as my parents were by my side. I was good at studies as well, so the support from my parents was never an issue.”
- In 2011, her father lost his job which is why her brother, who wanted to become a boxer, had to leave his passion and start a job in the private sector.
- In 2015, she started taking training at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru.
- In March 2018, she was given a job as a clerk in the Indian Railways under the sports quota.
- In an interview, she said that she would do modelling if she got a chance. She further talked about this and said,
I like to get my photos clicked. I was interested in doing fashion designing too, but it didn’t happen. But I keep up with the trends; I’ll jump at a modelling opportunity if that ever happens.”
- In 2021, in an interview, she mentioned that once Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned her on the radio programme Maan ki Baat and said,
As a child, Priyanka adored the bag that the medal winners were presented with. It was this fascination that made her participate in the Race-Walking competition for the first time. Now, she is a big champion of that.”
- During the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she was seen wearing nail paint that symbolised all the countries she went to for various competitions. While receiving the medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022, she was seen holding an idol of lord Krishna in one of her hands.
Priyanka Goswami’s nail paint and idol of Lord Krishna during the CWG 2022