Paramjeet Singh Bisht: Uttarakhand's Olympic Race Walker
From a Mountain Village in Chamoli to the Paris Olympics
Paramjeet Singh Bisht is an Indian race walker from Uttarakhand who represented India in the men's 20km race walk at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Alongside fellow Uttarakhand athlete Suraj Panwar, he helped establish the state's Chamoli district as an emerging hub for competitive race walking in India, continuing a legacy started by Olympian Manish Singh Rawat.
Early Life: Growing Up in the Mandal Valley
Paramjeet Singh Bisht was born on 3 March 2002 and hails from Khalla village in the Mandal valley of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, at an altitude of over 1,500 metres. He studied at Government Inter College, Bairagana, in Chamoli district.
Like many young athletes in the region, Bisht took up race walking during his school days largely out of necessity - his area lacked proper playgrounds or sports facilities, but the daily walks of several kilometres between his village and school, combined with the region's pleasant year round weather, proved ideal training for a long distance walking discipline. He has credited the rugged terrain and consistent climate of his home region for shaping his natural endurance.
Similar challenges and mountain based training environments have also shaped athletes like Mansi Negi, another race walker from the district whose achievements reflect the region's growing reputation as a centre for race walking talent.
Inspired by Manish Singh Rawat, Guided by Gopal Bisht
Bisht's rise was shaped significantly by Gopal Bisht, a physical education teacher at his school in Chamoli, who has mentored several race walkers from the district, including Olympian Manish Singh Rawat. Rawat, who finished 13th in the men's 20km race walk at the 2016 Rio Olympics, became an inspiration for the next generation of walkers in the region, including Paramjeet.
Paramjeet Singh Bisht later joined the Indian Navy through the sports quota, which allowed him to train at national level facilities while continuing his athletic career, including at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru.
The Road to the Paris Olympics
Bisht's Olympic qualification came at the 2023 Asian 20km Race Walking Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, where he clocked 1:20:08 to win the bronze medal, comfortably inside the Paris 2024 qualifying standard of 1:20:10. Compatriot Vikash Singh also crossed the qualifying mark in the same race, and the pair earned their Olympic berths together.
Earlier that year, he had also competed in the 20km race walk at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, finishing 35th, gaining valuable experience on the global stage ahead of the Olympics.
Building Momentum Through the 2024 Season
In the build up to Paris, Bisht competed across a busy international calendar. He opened his 2024 season at the South Asian & Indian Race Walking Championships in January, finishing second in the 10km walk with a time of 39:36, and ninth in the 20km walk in 1:22:08.
- World Athletics Race Walking Tour, Slovakia (2024): 7th place in the 20km walk, clocking 1:22:10.
- World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships, Antalya (2024): Paired with Munita Prajapati in the mixed relay, finishing 35th in 3:09:58.
- Personal Best (20km): 1:20:08, set at the 2023 Asian Race Walking Championships in Bangkok.
Paris 2024: An Olympic Debut on the Banks of the Seine
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Bisht competed in the men's 20km race walk, held on a one kilometre circuit at the Pont d'Iéna bridge beneath the Eiffel Tower, alongside fellow Indians Vikash Singh and Akshdeep Singh. Bisht completed the race in 1:23:48, finishing 37th out of a field of 49 starters.
Vikash Singh was the best placed Indian in 30th position, while national record holder Akshdeep Singh did not finish after withdrawing around the 6km mark. Ecuador's Brian Daniel Pintado won the gold medal in a time of 1:18:55.
Life After Paris: Continuing the Journey
Following the Paris Olympics, Bisht returned to training with the Indian Navy's athletics programme and continued competing on the domestic and international race walking circuit. In February 2026, he was among four Paris Olympians – alongside Akshdeep Singh, Suraj Panwar, and Vikash Singh – who took part in the men's half marathon (21km) walk at the Indian Open Race Walk Competition, reflecting his continued place among India's leading race walkers heading into the new Olympic cycle.
Career Performance Index
| Year | Competition | Event | Timing | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | World Athletics Championships, Budapest | 20km Race Walk | - | 35th |
| 2023 | Asian Race Walking Championships, Bangkok | 20km Race Walk | 1:20:08 | Bronze - Olympic Qualifier |
| 2024 | South Asian & Indian Race Walking Championships | 10km Race Walk | 39:36 | 2nd |
| 2024 | South Asian & Indian Race Walking Championships | 20km Race Walk | 1:22:08 | 9th |
| 2024 | World Athletics Race Walking Tour, Slovakia | 20km Race Walk | 1:22:10 | 7th |
| 2024 | World Race Walking Team Championships, Antalya | Mixed Relay | 3:09:58 | 35th |
| 2024 | Paris Summer Olympics | 20km Race Walk | 1:23:48 | 37th of 49 |
| 2026 | Indian Open Race Walk Competition | 21km Half-Marathon Walk | - | Competed |
Legacy: Building Uttarakhand's Race Walking Hub
Paramjeet Singh Bisht's rise from a small village in the Mandal valley to the Olympic stage carries significance well beyond his own results.
He is widely regarded as:
- Part of the second wave of Olympic race walkers to emerge from Chamoli district, following in the footsteps of Manish Singh Rawat
- Proof that India's next generation of race walking talent is increasingly coming from the hill terrain of Uttarakhand rather than the traditional Services-dominated pipeline of the sport
- An example of how limited local sporting infrastructure, combined with challenging mountain terrain, has inadvertently produced natural endurance athletes
With Uttarakhand now producing multiple Olympic-level race walkers from the same district, Bisht's journey stands as part of a broader story of the Himalayan hills quietly becoming one of Indian athletics' most promising talent pools.
