Gulveer Singh steps into the Worlds with Boston burst

Hangzhou bronze medallist first Indian to run 5000m in sub-13 min, smashes Asian Indoor mark to qualify for Tokyo
NEW DELHI: Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist, Gulveer Singh, created history by breaching the 13-minute barrier in indoor 5,000m race in the US on Friday night.
The 26-year-old Army man clocked a remarkable 12:59.77s to secure a commendable fourth position at the Terrier DMR Challenge indoor competition in Boston.
In the process, Gulveer also secured his place in the World athletics championships, scheduled in Tokyo from Sep 13, by bettering the automatic qualification mark of 13:01.00s in the 5,000m.
He marginally missed the third place in Boston despite a spirited surge, finishing behind Australian Jack Rayner, who completed the race in 12:59.43s. USA's Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker claimed gold with a timing of 12:57.82s, while his compatriot Cooper Teare came second at 12:57.97s.
Gulveer's fine show on the Boston University track was also better than the Asian indoor record of 13:08.41s, set by Thailand's Kieran Tuntivate in 2022. "My goal in Boston was to improve my personal best over the 5,000m. I had prepared for it at my training centre in Colorado Springs. I am happy that I achieved a new milestone during the race. Breaching the 13-minute barrier was always there at the back of my mind and I wanted to achieve this mark during my initial races of the season. It feels good to have finally done that," Gulveer said after the race.
Gulveer's record-breaking performance meant he also bettered his outdoor national record. His personal best over 5,000m (outdoor), a national record of 13:11.82s, was clocked last year. He also recorded the timing of 27:14.88s for the 10,000m (outdoor) to improve his own national record in Dec last in Japan.
"I am heading back to my training base in Colorado Springs with the satisfaction of having achieved the automatic entry standard for the World athletics. I'll take a short break and then prepare for my next race which I plan to run in the USA on March 29," he said. Last Friday, Gulveer had improved his personal best and national indoor 3000m track record at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational meet on the Boston University track. His 3,000m indoor time was 7:38.26s.
Gulveer, who had ended 2024 on the best possible note by setting a new national record in the men's 10,000m event at the Hachioji Long Distance athletics meet in Japan, credited his Athletics Federation of India (AFI) coach Scott Simmons and Army coach Yunis Khan for the turnaround.
"A lot of credit has to go to coach Simmons, who helped me plan my schedule and gave me very clear guidelines during practice sessions. Coach Yunis makes sure I train right. Simmons, who is himself from the US, has worked a lot with me on having a winning mindset and also made some tweaks in my training regime which I follow strictly. I can see the impact of those things already in my improved performances and faster timings," he added.
AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo said early season performance of the core group of Indian distance runners based out of Colorado Springs in USA augurs well for the future. "We are hopeful of good results in the coming outdoor season," he said.