Gulveer Singh: Colorado grind helps the armyman to script history in CWG

A 10,000m race at a mega event like the Olympics or Commonwealth Games often conjures images of African runners dominating the podium. The script was different on a rain-soaked Tuesday evening in Glasgow, where Gulveer Singh, a wiry 28-year-old Naib Subedar from Uttar Pradesh, became the first Indian man to win a CWG medal in the gruelling event, clinching silver with a timing of 27:49.79 seconds.

For the first time in the 40-year history of the event at the CWG, no African runner stood on the podium, as Australia’s Ky Robinson finished a second ahead of Gulveer to claim gold, while David Mullarkey of the Isle of Man took bronze in 27:50.28s. The adverse conditions perhaps explain Gulveer’s fifth-best timing, but the result still left him pleased after the disappointment of failing to qualify for the 5,000m final at his first World Championships appearance in Tokyo last year.

Sounding as dispassionate as ever, the Army man told the media later: “My only strategy was to win a medal. My coach (Scott Simmons of the US) told me not to do anything special in the early part of the race. For the first 400 metres or so, I was told to stay behind the leaders and follow them. My coach believes my finishing speed is very good, so the plan was to stay with the pack and make my move towards the end. That strategy worked.”

Asked what the medal meant to him personally, Gulveer was rather matter-of-fact: “It feels good. The full feeling will probably sink in later, but right now I am happy because I have won a medal for the country. Personal achievements come later. We compete on this platform for India, so this medal is for the country.”

The ongoing season has been the finest yet for Gulveer, who now trains at a high-altitude camp at a High Performance Centre in Colorado Springs, US, and has been one of the major beneficiaries of the Union sports ministry’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Last March, he broke the national half-marathon record in New York, while also clocking a personal best of 27:24.18s in the 10,000m in the US. In Los Angeles, he produced his fastest 5,000m time. There is no doubt that the decision to relocate to the high-altitude training base in Colorado Springs has paid dividends.

Born in Sirsa village in Aligarh district, Gulveer grew up running on village roads and farmland trails, initially training for Army recruitment. He joined the Grenadiers Regiment in 2018, and recognition soon followed. A 5,000m bronze at the 2023 Asian Championships and a 10,000m bronze at the Guangzhou Asian Games were followed by a double gold in both events at last year’s Asian Championships in Gumi, establishing him as the continent’s leading distance runner.

He holds the national records in the 5,000m, 10,000m, mile and half-marathon events. Last year, he became the first Indian to run a sub-four-minute mile and the first to break the 60-minute barrier in the half-marathon. In indoor competitions, his 12:59.77 in the 5,000m made him the first Asian athlete to dip under 13 minutes.

Incidentally, Kavita Raut is the only other Indian to have secured a podium finish in the 10,000m at the CWG, winning bronze at Delhi 2010. Now that Gulveer has achieved the milestone, he will look to build on this feat.