Adding to the legacy of the Vijay Diwas, Army runners Gulveer Singh and Sawan Barwal broke the Indian Elites event record at Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata 2024 held this morning, previously set by fellow Army athlete Avinash Sable in 2017. The third place was also bagged by a fellow Army man Gaurav Mathur demonstrating the dominance of Indian Army athletes in long distance running.
Gulveer went a step further by setting new record in the event. This proud achievement highlights the enduring excellence, grit, and determination of our forces!
Gulveer Singh (26) habitually breaks the national record in every distance event. He has improved the national marks in 5000 and 10,000m twice this year. The Guangzhou Asian Games bronze medalist, who just eight weeks ago became the Asian cross-country champion, is now turning his focus towards road running. Sawan Barwal, the 2023 Asian half-marathon bronze medalist, led Gulveer in a significant portion of the race today. As in the international category, Gulveer broke away from Sawan and sprinted to finish first and also registered another Indian Best at this distance by clocking 1:14:10. Sawan clocked a close 1:14:11 to cross the finish line fractionally behind the leader. Gaurav Mathur completes the Indian podium in third place.
“I am in good form, and I thought we could break the course record. We practiced together, and then we pushed each other. After 12 km there was some traffic, so we lost a little time and made up. I am very happy to win,” Gulveer Singh said.
“We get a lot of support. AFI has given us a good coach from the USA. We also get to visit foreign countries. That has reduced the gap with the elite internationals. Now we are preparing for the Asian and World Championships,” he further said about closing in on the International elites.
“Condition was better this time. We wanted to break the course record, and so we did. We are very happy to achieve this. I tried my best to win, but Gulveer was very good today,” Sawan Barwal said.
(Author is an Independent Sr. Broadcast Journalist working for British media with 20 years of experience in covering the east and northeast, with specialisation in Defence and Sports.She is associated with us as Editorial head of Defence & Sports. In her illustrated career she has covered many major events and achieved International and Indian media awards for Journalism).
