Gulveer Singh sets 5000m indoor national record, becomes first Indian to break 13-minute mark
Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist Gulveer Singh broke the national record and became the first Indian to break the 13-minute barrier in the men’s 5000m indoor race at the BU Terrier DMR Challenge in Boston.
The 26-year-old Army runner, who already held the national record in 5000m, clocked 12:59.77, finishing fourth in the event behind Cole Hocker (12:57.82), Cooper Teare (12:57.97), and Jack Rayner (12:59.43).
The Indian’s performance not only set a new national record but also established a new Asian 5000m short track record. His performance eclipsed the earlier Asian indoor 5000m record of 13:08.41s set by Thailand’s Kieran Tuntivate in 2022.
Gulveer’s run saw him surpassing the World Athletics Championships qualifying standard of 13:01.00s.
He also bettered his own 5000m outdoor national record of 13:11.82 by more than 12 seconds.
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Indian athletics chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair, however, said Gulveer’s timing may not be considered as the outdoor national record.
“No doubt, it’s an indoor national record and Asian indoor record at that. Athletes can run with faster time on outdoor tracks because of less number of turns (laps) as compared to indoor tracks.
“But, indoor timing may not be considered as outdoor national record, though Gulveer’s indoor timing is better than even the outdoor,” Nair said.
One lap of indoor track has a total distance of 200m whereas the length of an outdoor track is of 400m.
“My goal here (in Boston) was to improve my personal best over the 5,000m,” Gulveer said after his record-breaking performance.
“I’m happy that I’ve achieved a new milestone during the race. I’m also excited to have achieved the automatic entry standard for the World Athletics Championships.”
Last week, Gulveer broke yet other record, this time in the men’s 3000m indoor event where he shattered a 16-year-old national record.
He clocked 7:38.26s, finishing second in the event and surpassing the previous Indian record of 7:49.47 set by Surendar Singh in 2008.
(With inputs from PTI)
