On a record-breaking spree, Gulveer is keen to make a mark at the World Championships 

India’s ace distance runner Gulveer Singh has been on song in the last six months. The 26-year-old Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist in men’s 10,000m track has strengthened his dominance from events ranging from 3000m indoor event to 25km on the road.

His back-to-back national indoor records set at the Boston University track between February 15 to 21 suggests a new era in Indian distance running. The versatile distance runner is the first Indian to break 13 minutes barrier on his way to fourth place finish at the Terrier DMR Challenge indoor competition in Boston on February 21. He not only improved the Asian Indoor 5,000m record but also achieved the automatic qualifying standard of 13:01:00 in men’s 5,000m to compete at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

Singh clocked an impressive time of 12:59.77 seconds — a first by an Indian runner — to narrowly miss third place at Terrier DMR Challenge indoor competition in Boston.

The Armyman is candid in saying that his goal in Boston was to improve his personal best. But he was happy to have improved his own national 5000m record by more than 10 seconds. “I’m happy that I’ve achieved a new milestone during the race,” he said after his record-breaking performance.

USA’s Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker sprinted home to gold. Hocker’s winning time was 12:57.82 while Cooper Teare was second at 12:57.97. Jack Rayner was third with a time of 12:59.43.

Singh’s performance at Boston University was also better than the Asian indoor record of 13:08.41 set by Thailand’s Kieran Tuntivate in 2022 in Boston.

The army runner has a personal best over 5,000m (outdoor) and the national record of 13:11.82 seconds was clocked last year. In 10,000m (outdoor), he clocked 27:14.88 to improve his own national record last year in Japan.

Singh is the second army runner who has grabbed the spotlight for his brilliant performance in the past six months.

Army’s 3000m steeplechase specialist, Avinash Sable, has also raised the bar and has been consistent at the international level. Sable was the first Indian to have won a steeplechase medal at the Commonwealth Games. He won a silver at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in a tough field. He also won gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games held in China in 2023.

The distance runner from Beed Maharashtra shattered a long standing record in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Since 2018 he hasn’t looked back and set a new benchmark each time he stepped on the track for competition. His personal best over the 3,000m steeplechase is 8:09.91 clocked last year at the Meeting de Paris. However, he wasn’t able to grab his opportunity during two back-to-back Olympic Games and world championships.

Gulveer will be eager to make a mark at the World Championship in Tokyo from September 13 while Sable will look to make the most of another attempt in a major championship.