Gulveer breaks record but misses Paris mark

New Delhi, March 17

Asian Games bronze medallist Gulveer Singh shattered the 16-year-old national record in the men’s 10,000m to finish second in his heat at The Ten in San Juan Capistrano in California.

The 25-year-old clocked 27 minutes, 41.81 seconds on Saturday to better the earlier national mark of 28:02.89 by more than 20 seconds that stood in Surendra Singh’s name since 2008.

However, Gulveer’s effort was not enough for Olympics qualification as he missed the Paris Games qualification time of 27:00.00 by over 41 seconds.

The other Indian in the heat, Kartik Kumar, 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 his heat, pulling out of the race in the 15th lap at the 6000m mark.

In the women’s 10,000m, Parul Chaudhary finished a disappointing 20th, clocking 32:02.08. She too missed the Paris qualification, which stands at 30:40.00.