Glasgow, July 29 (IANS) India’s Gulveer Singh produced a sensational late kick and surged to a silver medal in the men’s 10,000m, adding the Commonwealth Games medal to the Asian Games bronze and twin gold medals in the Asian Championships he has won so far.

India’s top long-distance runner came up with a fine performance, pulling off a brilliant ‘kick’ in the final lap and sprinting to the finish line in 27:49.78 to secure his maiden Commonwealth Games medal in Glasgow on Tuesday night.

With this medal, Gulveer made history, becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the Commonwealth Games.

Starting with a slow first 400m, Gulveer stayed in the leading pack for most of the race before producing a devastating surge in the last lap to finish behind Australia’s Ky Robinson (27:48.93) and ahead of Isle of Man’s David Mullarkey, who claimed the bronze in 27:50.28. Edwin Kurgat of Kenya ended a close fourth in 27:50.98, which was his season’s best time.

The 28-year-old Gulveer started the race in 2nd position and remained in the top three positions till just before the halfway mark, when he slipped to the sixth rank. He went further down to 9th position as the pace picked up past the 5600m before picking up pace in the final 1000m of the race. He moved up to third position going into the final lap and produced a tremendous kick to eventually finish second.

This is a slower time and does not come close to his personal best of 27:00.22, the national record that he set in 2025,

Gulveer Singh, who is one of India’s greatest-ever long-distance runners, holds national records in 3000m and 5000m besides the 10,000m. A serving Naib Subedar in the Grenadiers Regiment of the Indian Army, Gulveer was born in Sirsa village of Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh. He started his running journey on village roads and farmland trails as he prepared for recruitment into the Indian Army.

Gulveer made his international breakthrough with a bronze medal in the 5000m at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships and followed it with a bronze medal in the 10,000m at the 2022 Asian Games.

He reached new heights in 2025 by winning double gold medals in the 5000m and 10,00m at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, establishing himself as Asia’s leading long-distance runner.

–IANS

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