Indian athlete Gulveer Singh in action at the BU Valentine Invitational Tournament last week. (Credits: Justin Britton/Citius Mag)
Indian middle distance runner Gulveer created history by becoming the first-ever Asian athlete to run the 5000m short track race in under 13 minutes on Friday.
He clocked 12:59.77 at the Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge 2025 and finished fourth behind 2024 Paris Olympics 1500m Champion Cole Hokcer (12:57.82), Cooper Teare (12:57.97) and Australia’s Jack Rayner (12:59.43).
The 26-year-old Indian athlete broke the Asian record in the process previously held by the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist Kieran Tuntivate of Thailand, who marked 13:08.41 at the same venue in 2022. He also broke the National record which was held by Kartik Kumar (14:05.67).
He also surpassed the World Athletics Championships entry standard for the event. The qualifying mark for the 5000m outdoor race the World Championships 2025 is 13:01.00 and athletes who breach the entry standard in the indoor events can also qualify for the event which is set to take place in Tokyo in September.
A BATTLE TO THE LINE 🔥
Teammates Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare sprint to the finish in the men’s 5k at the BU Terrier DMR Challenge, with Hocker narrowly getting the win in 12:57.82.
Teare takes second in 12:57.97 as both he and Hocker, along with Jack Rayner and Gulveer Singh,… pic.twitter.com/pJz9WpOXCp
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 22, 2025
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Gulveer’s time in Boston was also better than his national record for the 5000m outdoor race which stands at 13:11.82. He also holds the national record in the 10000m outdoor race.
Last week, Gulveer Singh shed over 11 seconds off the 16-year-old 3000m national indoor record with a time of 7:38.26.
Gulveer won the bronze medal in the 2023 Asian Games in the 10000m outdoor event with his then personal-best of 28:17.21.
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Among other Indians, Rahul competed in the men’s one-mile event and came 22nd with a time of 4:04.91 while Ankita was 16th in 4:43.16 for 10th place in the women’s race over the same distance.
