At The Ten in San Juan Capistrano in California, Asian Games bronze medallist athlete Gulveer Singh shattered a 16-year-old national record in the men’s 10000m to finish second.
On Saturday, the 25-year-old clocked 27.41.81 to better the earlier national mark of 28:02.89 by over 20 seconds. The earlier record stood in Surendra Singh’s name since 2008.
However, efforts by Gulveer were not enough for Olympic qualification. By over 41 seconds, he missed the Paris Games qualification time of 27:00.00.
Kartik Kumar finishes ninth
Kartik Kumar, the other Indian, finished ninth in the race with a timing of 28:01.90, which was also better than Surendra’s earlier national record.
Avinash Sable, who was competing in the same event, did not finish (DNF) his heat. In the 15th lap, at the 6000m mark, he pulled out of the race.
Parul Chaudhary finished a disappointing 20th in the women’s 10000m. She clocked 32:02.08 and too missed the Paris qualification, which stands at 30:40.00.