K. T. Irfan

Naib subedar Irfan Kolothum Thodi (born 8 February 1990) is an Indian athlete and Indian Army junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) from Malappuram, Kerala.^[1]

Naib Subedar

Irfan Kolothum Thodi

Personal information
Full name	Irfan Kolothum Thodi
Nationality	Indian
Born	(1990-02-08) 8 February 1990 (age 34) Malappuram, Kerala, India
Weight	65 kg (143 lb)
Military career
Allegiance	India
Service/branch	Indian Army
Rank	Naib Subedar
Sport
Country	India
Sport	Athletics
Event	Racewalking
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	10 km: 40:10 (London 2012) 20 km: 1:20:21 NR (London 2012)

Irfan^[2] had competed in the Federation Cup at Patiala, clocking a personal best of 1:2:09 in 2012. At the London 2012 Olympics, he set the Indian national record in the 20 km walk with a timing of 1:20:21 and ranked 10th. This was also the first time, since Zora Singh's 8th position finish in Roma 1960, that any of the Indian track and field athletes had finished in the top 10 at the Olympics. He did not participate in the 2016 Rio Olympics though he had qualified, owing to a stress fracture.In Tokyo Olympics 2020, he finished a disappointing 51st with a timing of 1:34:41.

In March 2013, Irfan finished 5th in the IAAF World 20 km Race Walking Challenge event held at Taicang, China.

KT Irfan qualified for Tokyo Olympics in the race walking event of athletics after finishing fourth in the 20 km event at the Asian Race Walking Championships^[3] in Nomi, Japan. KT Irfan was the first Indian from athletics to book a spot in the Tokyo Olympics.^[4] He finished 51st in the event.

Achievements

• 2011-Inter State Senior National Athletic Championship-Silver-01:30:31
• 2011-Open National Athletic Championship-Gold-01:27:46
• 2012-Federation Cup Senior Athletic Championship-Gold-01:22:14 (new meet record)
• 2012-World Race Walking Cup-19th-01:22:09 (Qualified for London Olympics)
• 2012-London Olympics-10th-01:20:21 (New National Record)
• 2013-IAAF World Race Walking Challenge-5th-01:20:59
• 2013-Participated in the World Athletics Championships, Moscow^[5]
• 2017 Max Bupa Race Walking championship Gold-01:22:43 (Delhi)
• 2017-Asian Race Walking Championships-Bronze-01:20:59 (Japan - Nomi)
• 2017-Participated in the World Athletics Championships-23rd-1:21:40 (London)

References

1. "Irfan qualifies for Olympics in 20km walk.He completed the walk by touching the finish line at 10th position". dailysports.co. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
2. "Irfan Thodi". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
3. "K T Irfan wins bronze in Asian 20km Race Walk Championships". India Today. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
4. "Race walker KT Irfan first Indian from athletics to qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympics". India Today. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
5. Irfan, KT. "KT Irfan, World Athletics Championships, Moscow". NDTV Sports. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.

External links

• K. T. Irfan at World Athletics
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Irfan Kolothum Thodi". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.