Gulveer Singh at Asian Games 2026: 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m Events

Gulveer competed in the men's 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan, which run from 19 September to 4 October 2026. Track and field was held at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium from 24 to 29 September (see the full Asian Games 2026 athletics schedule). A returning Hangzhou medallist, having won bronze in the 10,000m in 2023, he came home with three medals from Nagoya.

In the 10,000m on 25 September, Gulveer finished behind Bahrain's Birhanu Balew (28:27.51), turning his Hangzhou bronze into silver. On 28 September he ran a personal best of 3:36.72 in the 1500m final to take silver behind Japan's Kazuto Iizawa, who set a Games record of 3:36.35. On 29 September he added bronze in the 5000m in 13:32.75, behind Balew (13:30.79) and Japan's Tomonori Yamaguchi (13:31.43). The three medals make him the first Indian athlete since P.T. Usha in 1986 to win three at a single Asian Games.

This is Japan's third time hosting the Asian Games, with 43 sports and 469 events. Read our complete guide to Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya, Japan, check the Asian Games 2026 India schedule, and see where to watch Asian Games 2026 live in India.

Gulveer Singh is an Indian long-distance runner and a serving soldier who has rewritten what Indian athletes are expected to do on the track over 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m. Distance running was long seen as an area where India could produce good runners but not world-class times. Gulveer changed that, and he now holds national records from the 3000m all the way up to the 25km road race.

He was born on 1 June 1998 in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district. Like many Indian Army athletes, he did not start with Olympic dreams. He started running to get into the Army, and the sport followed from there. That path, from a farming family to the top of Asian distance running, is the core of his story.

Gulveer Singh was born on 1 June 1998 in Atrauli, in Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh, into a farming family. He began running with one goal in mind: joining the Indian Army. Athletics was a route to that career rather than a dream in itself.

In 2018 he joined the Indian Army through the sports quota, serving with The Grenadiers Regiment. He has since risen to the rank of Naib Subedar, a Junior Commissioned Officer rank, and trains and competes as an Army Sports Institute athlete.

Gulveer's first major continental medal came in July 2023, when he won bronze in the 5000m at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok. A few months later he made it to the podium at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, taking bronze in the men's 10,000m on 30 September 2023. Bahrain's Birhanu Balew won the race, and India's Kartik Kumar took silver, so India had two men on the podium.

Those two medals marked him as India's leading distance runner. The next phase of his career would be about times, not just medals.

In September 2024 at the Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup in Niigata, Japan, Gulveer ran 13:11.82 to take the Indian 5000m record. In February 2025 he ran 12:59.77 indoors at the Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge, a mark that is both an Indian and an Asian indoor record for the distance.

On 29 March 2025, at The TEN in San Juan Capistrano, California, he clocked 27:00.22 in the 10,000m, an Indian record that remains his personal best. He added the national 3000m record with 7:34.49 at the Gyulai Memorial in Budapest in August 2025, and set the Indian 25km road mark the same year.

At the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, he completed a rare distance double. He won the 10,000m on 27 May in 28:38.63 and the 5000m on 30 May in 13:24.77, a championship record.

Gulveer's 2026 began on the roads and ended up on the world stage. He finished third at the 2026 New York City Half Marathon in 59:42. In May he ran 13:03.93 for second place at the Sound Running Track Fest in Los Angeles, lowering his own Indian 5000m outdoor record by nearly eight seconds. Earlier in the year he also entered the top 10 of the World Athletics rankings in the 10,000m.

On 28 July 2026, in heavy rain at Scotstoun Stadium, Gulveer won silver in the men's 10,000m in 27:49.78, finishing just behind Australia's Ky Robinson (27:48.93) and ahead of the Isle of Man's David Mullarkey (27:50.28). He became the first Indian athlete to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the men's 10,000m, thanks to a late final-lap surge.

Days later he added a bronze in the 5000m with a tactically perfect final-lap kick, becoming the first Indian athlete to win two track medals at a single Commonwealth Games. Those results also gave him a strong platform for the Asian Games campaign in Japan.

• Holds Indian records at 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m and the 25km road race
• Won a 5000m and 10,000m double at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships
• Won bronze in the 10,000m at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023
• First Indian athlete to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the 10,000m (silver, Glasgow 2026)
• First Indian athlete to win two track medals at a single Commonwealth Games
• Won three medals at Asian Games 2026: silver in the 10,000m and 1500m, bronze in the 5000m
• First Indian athlete since P.T. Usha (1986) to win three medals at a single Asian Games

Gulveer Singh's career is a story of steady progress. A soldier who ran his way into the Army has turned into the best distance runner India has produced, one who now competes on level terms with the world's best over 5000m and 10,000m. He left Aichi-Nagoya with three medals, and a first Asian Games gold is the one prize still missing.

For his full profile, records and competition history, see Gulveer Singh on Wikipedia.