Congratulations 
Gulveer breaks Sable’s national 5,000m mark
He fell short of the Paris Olympics qualifying time, but his coach hopes he can seal a Games spot on world ranking.
For a second time this year, Asian Games 10,000m bronze medallist Gulveer Singh has made an all-out attempt at trying to qualify for the Paris Olympics. At the Portland Track Festival in Oregon, USA on Sunday, Gulveer fell well short, but did enough to break Avinash Sable’s national 5,000m record by clocking 13:18.92. Sable’s mark was 13:19.30.
The Paris Olympics qualifying standard for 5,000m though is a tough 13:05.00. In March, Gulveer set the 10,000m national record at The Ten Track meet in California, clocking 27:41.81. The Olympic qualifying time though is 27:00.00. He had bettered Surender Singh’s national mark (28:02.89), which was set as far back as 2008.
In Oregon, Gulveer finished second. Sable and Kartik Kumar too were in the field. Kartik finished 17th in a modest timing of 13:41.07 while Sable, the 3,000m steeplechase ace, didn’t finish the race.
Gulveer’s performance will help add crucial points to rise in the Road to Paris 24 rankings. The armyman currently stands 58th in 5,000m and will have to get inside the top 42 by June 30 to qualify.
His coach Yunus Khan of the Army Sports Institute is hopeful that Gulveer will qualify in 5,000m through the world rankings. “His rankings will go up after this race, and with some more races to go that include the Inter-State meet, he should be able to get inside 42,” Khan said.
Gulveer, who belongs to the 23rd Grenadier Regiment, started his running career only after joining the Army. The 26 year-old has risen to the top rather quickly. Last year, Gulveer won 5,000m bronze at the Asian Championships and the 10,000m bronze at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
“He started running only in 2018-19 after joining the Army. We saw him in a cross-country race where he impressed. Then we got him at ASI Pune and started training specifically for distance running. He has improved fast, with every meet,” said Khan.
“Gulveer is natural, and his big strength is the last lap (finish). He has reserves of energy to run fast in the last lap, which is not common among Indian runners. That finishing kick gives him the advantage. Even today you see, his last lap was 56.85s.”
Gulveer, with other distance runners Sable, Kartik Kumar and Parul Chaudhary, is training at the high altitude centre in Colorado Springs, USA under American coach Scott Simmons.
