Blistering last lap of gruelling 25-lap race enabled Gulveer Singh to outkick his rivals and win silver medal in Glasgow.
A dynamic shift in training early this season has started bearing fruit for Gulveer Singh in the longer track races. In a tactical battle for supremacy the 28-year-old versatile distance runner shifted gears to clinch silver in the men’s 10,000m race at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
His silver medal-winning time was 27:49.78. The winner Ky Robinson of Australia clocked 27:48.93. Bronze went to David Mullarkey (England) with a time of 27:50.28.
Gulveer Singh’s excellent performance in the Commonwealth Games certainly heralds a new distance running era in the country. Gulveer Singh’s Glasgow feat also highlights that East African runners are no longer invincible! At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Avinash Sable broke the East African stronghold over the 3000m steeplechase by winning silver. Gulveer Singh is the second Indian athlete to further establish the growing stature of distance running in the country.
Last year at the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships, Gulveer Singh faded in the closing stages of the 10,000m race. At the beginning of this season, foreign coach Scott Simmons told him to inject more speed sessions into training. Part of the programme was switching to middle-distance track races. The Indian runner was able to clock below 3:38 in in1500m. He also ran a sub-four-minute mile, a first by an Indian runner.
It took Gulveer Singh nearly six months to inculcate the skills to shift gears in tactical longer track races. Clocking the last 1,000m of the 25-lap event below two minutes 30 seconds proves he is learning to generate speed in the closing stages of the race. He also unleashed a punishing 56-second kick in the last lap. He generated enough speed on the home stretch to outkick his rivals and win silver.
His next goal will be the Japan Asian Games. He won bronze in the men’s 10,000m at the 2022 Asian Games in China. Having national records over distance ranging from the 3000m track event to the 21km road race proves he is armed with all the arsenal needed to tackle his rivals in Japan.
Above all he has also learned that major championships are about winning positions, not clocking fast times as in invitational meets.
Since the beginning of his season, Gulveer Singh has been training in thin air of Colorado Springs in the USA to prepare for major internationals, including Asian Games. Armed with string of good performances this season, he will be one of the strong contenders for gold medals in both 5,000m and 10,000m races in Japan.
EOM
