By Sundeep Misra
Whenever Gulveer Singh runs and if you are fortunate enough to see him, you know the feeling – he seems to hang somewhere between being good and great. He possesses that effortless smoothness unique to long-distance runners; a penchant for lapping until the final bell triggers an instinctive, competitive gear.
At 5:30 AM at The Kalinga, Gulveer is still fighting his own circadian rhythms, having returned from the US just a week ago. His winning time of 13:52.92 was slow by his standards – especially for an athlete holding an outdoor National Record of 13:03.93 and a blistering short-track indoor time of 12:59.77.
Yet, functionally, the job is done. After swapping leads with Abhishek Pal, Harmanjot Singh, and Shivaji Parashu Madap, Gulveer effortlessly shifted gears on the final lap, cantering away to gold and sealing his case for the Asian Games.
While the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) won’t officially announce the squad for the Aichi-Nagoya Games until after June 28th, Gulveer’s ticket is a formality. He comfortably shattered the AFI qualification benchmark of 13:39.18 earlier this season at the LA Track Festival, laying down a massive marker.
Next, he will test his closing speed in the 1500m, a tactical tune-up for Japan.
“It’s a new track; the grip doesn’t quite form yet,” Gulveer said after his win, explaining the unique surface at The Kalinga. “With continued workouts, the weight impact changes. Right now, it’s like rubber – it absorbs like a sponge, so there’s more bounce.”
As he prepares for Glasgow and Japan, the athletics world will be watching closely. It’s exactly that divide – between the good and the truly great – that Gulveer is running to bridge.