Gulveer Singh has emerged as the face of Indian long-distance running over the past few years, rewriting national records and consistently raising the country’s standards in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

The Indian Army athlete heads to the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as the reigning Asian champion in both events after a series of historic performances on the track and the road.

Making his Commonwealth Games debut, Gulveer will compete in both the men’s 5,000m and 10,000m as he looks to continue his remarkable rise.

Early days

Born on June 1, 1998, in Sirsa village near Atrauli in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district, Gulveer grew up in a farmer’s family with a strong military background.

He joined the Indian Army through the sports quota in 2018 and currently serves as a Naib Subedar in The Grenadiers regiment.

His early years in the Army included postings in Arunachal Pradesh, where he balanced military responsibilities with athletics training.

Those years helped shape the discipline and endurance that would later define his career on the track.

Rising through the ranks

Gulveer steadily progressed through the Army Sports Institute and the Sports Authority of India system before establishing himself among India’s top distance runners.

He won bronze in the men’s 5,000m at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships before adding another bronze in the 10,000m at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Those performances marked his arrival on the continental stage and laid the foundation for an exceptional 2025 season.

Seeking to improve further, Gulveer shifted his training base to Colorado Springs in the United States in 2024, working under coach Scott Simmons in a high-altitude environment.

The move proved instrumental in taking his performances to another level.

Record-breaking run

The last two seasons have seen Gulveer rewrite Indian distance running history.

He became the first Indian to run a sub-13-minute 5,000m after clocking 12:59.77s in 2025, while also setting national records in 10,000m (27:00.22s), 3,000m, indoor 3,000m and the 25km road race.

His success extended beyond the track in 2026 when he became the first Indian to complete a half marathon in under 60 minutes, clocking 59:42 to finish third at the New York City Half Marathon.

The performances highlighted his versatility across distances while firmly establishing him among Asia’s leading endurance runners.

Eyes on Glasgow

Gulveer heads to the Commonwealth Games in the best form of his career after completing a historic distance double at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, where he won gold in both the 5,000m and 10,000m.

The competition in Glasgow will feature some of the world’s strongest distance runners, but the Commonwealth Games provide another opportunity for Gulveer to measure his progress against an elite field while building on the momentum of his recent performances.

Already the holder of multiple national records and the first Indian to break several long-standing barriers in distance running, Gulveer has transformed expectations of what Indian athletes can achieve in endurance events.

His performances over the past two years have made him one of the country’s leading long-distance runners and a key member of India’s athletics contingent heading to Glasgow.