New Delhi: The sight of a rain-drenched Gulveer Singh pushing himself hard at the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games will linger in the memory of Indian fans for long.
It is not every day that an Indian long-distance runner wins silver medal in 10000m and follows it up with bronze in 5000m, in a field comprising top runners, including those from Africa. Gulveer’s two medals at the CWG are worth their weight in gold.
What was captivating was how the Armyman strategised in the races, staying close to the lead runners even when the pace was upped, and producing a fast finish entering the final bend on to the home stretch. This is where Indian runners have often lacked. Even when they keep pace with the leading group initially, they eventually are worn out by the time the race nears its climax and the world’s best shift gears to surge ahead.
The 25-lap race is indeed a test of endurance, speed, mental strength and tactics. Gulveer, who has been training at the altitude of Colorado Springs, USA with some of the world’s top runners, seemed to have enough in the tank to accelerate late in the race when the legs normally feel heavy, pain surges through the body and it feels like a thousand pins are pricking. That is why the final dash separates medallists from the rest of the pack.
In the 10000m, Gulveer clocked 27:49.78 for silver. Four days after this commendable show, the Aligarh runner clinched bronze in 5000m, running another brilliant, tactical race and finishing with a sprint in the last 200m. The 28-year-old clocked 13:24.95. He became the first Indian to win two athletics medals in a single edition of the CWG, and only the second Indian to win a 5000m medal at CWG, after the late Hari Chand’s bronze at 1978 Edmonton.
“He has shown that he belongs to the top class,” said high-performance coach Scott Simons of the US, under whom Gulveer has been training in Colorado Springs. “It was an exceptional performance from Gulveer in Glasgow. Throughout his training period he has shown the hard work, discipline and commitment required at the elite level. We have been working on his speed work, and it was good to see him putting that effort into a high-quality race,” Simons said. Gulveer himself has spoken about how it took a while for him to gain confidence training with other elite athletes.
In the last two years, Gulveer has been producing consistent results. He has broken the national records in 5000m and 10000m in races outside India. The 5000m mark is 12:59.77, while it is 27:00.22 in 10000m.
In long-distance races, however, timings do not matter as much as tactical execution in major competitions where medals are everything. At his US base, Gulveer has developed tactical awareness and learnt how to execute race plans.
Gulveer has improved by leaps and bounds since his Diamond League debut in Doha, and the Tokyo World Championships last year where he finished 16th in 10,000m and just missed qualifying for the 5000m final. Understanding the conditions and the tempo of the race is equally important in distance running. In Glasgow, Gulveer could match the rhythm of the elite runners in the field and also push himself up when he felt he had fallen behind.
“Running international races is completely different, especially medal races where there is so much at stake. Everyone comes with their own strategy and wants to run their own race. Medal races are slow. The finish is important and it is fast. If you run fast early, you will run out of breath. So, you have to assess your capacity and go along with the field,” Gulveer had told HT before the CWG.
He walked the talk at Glasgow. His confidence stemmed from the variety of races he participated in to build endurance and speed. He has competed in the 5000m, 10000m, half marathon, cross-country races and even 1500m in international events this year to prepare for the big season with two major championships.
In high pressure races, when there is so much going on in the mind, it is all the more difficult to push oneself. “It takes a lot out of you to push yourself in such high-stakes races, and therefore I have worked harder on my endurance and speed. I have mixed my races (from 1500m to the half-marathon) this year. Also, you need to recover well after these races,” said Gulveer, who won the 10000m bronze at the 2023 Asian Games.
He will be a strong contender for both the 5000m and 10000m titles in this edition, where he is also entered in 1,500m. In the 10,000m, he is second-best this season with Japan’s Mebuki Suzuki at the top with a season’s best of 27:20.11. Suzuki will also have the advantage of competing at home.
In the 5000m too, Gulveer’s best this season, 13:03.93, is a way slower than Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew (12:45.70), the defending champion in 5000m and 10000m. In third and fourth place on the season’s list are Japanese runners Nagiya Mori (13:14.18) and Tomonori Yamaguchi (13:16.38), both of whom will feature in the Games.
At last year’s Asian Championships, Gulveer won a distance double, beating Suzuki and Mori. At Aichi-Nagoya, Gulveer is primed to replicate that success and add to the Indian tally.
