Colourful haul: Vithya won one each of gold, silver and bronze from Aichi-Nagoya!
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY

Vishal will be one of the top attractions.
| Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar

Two years ago, Gurindervir Singh stamped his return to the top rung of sprinters in India by winning the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in the fading light at Panchkula.

It was only 10.32 seconds, but it brought him the spotlight and support needed to kick his almost stagnant career back into gear. In time, it led to him becoming the fastest Indian on the track, raising expectations of a historic sub-10 run in the most glamorous event in athletics.

Familiar situation

As the 25-year-old prepares for the upcoming Asian Games, the parallels between 2024 and now are hard to miss, even for the man himself.

Back then, Gurindervir was the meet record holder at the Nationals, but, in the three years since he had clocked 10.27s (Patiala, 2021), others had raced far ahead. Coupled with injuries, lack of sufficient nutrition and uncertainty over his sporting future, he had been forced to play catch-up.

Now, with the all-important continental meet looming large, Gurindervir is again battling the stopwatch on the track and questions and injuries off it.

The only Indian to go under 10.1s has had a torrid few months ever since the incredible two days in May when the national record switched hands thrice, Gurindervir eventually making it his own in 10.09s. He injured his hamstring, crashed out in the first round at the Commonwealth Games and finished a lowly seventh at the World Athletics Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar.

The big difference now, however, is the support he has access to. Picked up by the Reliance Foundation after the 2024 outing and working under the watchful eyes of its athletics director James Hillier at the high performance centre in Navi Mumbai, Gurindervir is already back to peak training ahead of his biggest outing of the year.

“He’s had a good couple of weeks of training. He’s getting back into good shape but he’s looking to get into peak 100m shape within the next two weeks. That’s what I’m hoping for,” Hillier said before getting into the details of Gurindervir’s technical strengths and weaknesses.

“CWG … there were certain elements of his race that were quite good from a coaching perspective. I’m very happy with the first 60-70 meters of his race. What we’ve been working on in the last few weeks is getting him to extrapolate that speed over the full 100m.

“We’ve been working pretty hard to get that last bit of the race sorted. I’ve put some specific training in place for that. We have a competition in Delhi on September 10 and that’s going to be a key competition. We’ll get to see exactly where he is, where the training is going and how well he finishes the race there, that’ll give us very good information,” Hillier explained.

The transformation

The man himself has gone from being an emotional and often-stressed youngster to a more confident and mature professional who is determined to take control of his life and his running, something Hillier also acknowledged. The transformation began in March last year, when he broke the national record for the first time with a 10.20s run at the Indian Grand Prix 1.

Gurindervir had been battling stomach ulcers that weakened his body and naysayers who tried to break his spirit. Both were spillovers from his time in obscurity before 2024 — when a poor diet and dirty water stripped away his gut lining. He could barely keep anything in and lost almost 15kgs in a fortnight even as people, known and unknown, sniggered that he was finished.

“If you had asked last year’s Gurindervir about handling the pressure, maybe he would have been in stress. That time too, all this happened with me — interviews, phone calls, questions, expectations. I was not sleeping at night,” he said.

“Back then, I couldn’t get out of it. I was thinking about what to say in the next interview when I should have been thinking about how to improve. When I ran in the Fed Cup [in 2025], I cramped and it stressed me even more because I had claimed I would do a lot in the interviews. That Gurindervir took pressure. This one has evolved, he has learnt from all this.”

A large part of the credit for that, he insisted, went to Hillier for keeping him away from a lot of negativity. “If it wasn’t for him, I would have been in a very bad, stressful situation. The coach motivated me a lot. He gave me the right guidance on how to deal with it.”

A lot of people had been critical of his inclusion for Glasgow, questioning his fitness, but Hillier has already clarified that the problem was not carrying an injury into competition but the lack of sufficient races before the CWG because of the injury. That issue has been addressed although the Continental Tour event highlighted the issues that continue to plague his race plan.

“At the Bhubaneswar event, you’ll see he was in a really good position at 60-70m and then sort of fell away, which I expected to happen based on what’s been happening in training. It’s just how he’s put together,” Hillier said.

“Many 100m athletes run the race in different ways. Guri is a very good accelerator and that’s just his natural strength. He won the national indoor 60m earlier in the year, broke the national record in that with a very fast time of 6.60s. Someone like an Animesh [Kujur] or an Amlan [Borgohain], these guys tend to finish strong, that’s their natural strength. We must train them to their strengths and then work alongside that to manage their weaknesses.”

Listening to his body

Gurindervir has also learnt to listen to his body. “I have worked on everything. What I eat and how much, how much I travel. If I am feeling any pain, how much effort do I have to put into the workout? If I am doing an endurance workout, how do I do it?

“In weight training, I have set levels I must achieve every month. It’s the same on track as well. I will train as much as my body needs. I discuss with the dietician how much food I need. I had some lack of mobility before, so sitting with the physio, knowing which muscles and joints I have to work on so that I can run better.”

The one thing that hasn’t changed, however, is Gurindervir’s conviction. The reason he was stressed, he explained, was because what he says matters to him.

“If I say something, it has to have meaning. Words are important for me. If I claim or promise something and I cannot do it, it affects me. That’s my nature. My father had a dream, I started running to fulfil that dream. People said Indians can’t be competitive in 100m, I was determined to do it. It will take some time, but it will definitely happen.”

Leaving no stone unturned: Sreeshankar has been training in Spała, Poland, for the past three weeks to acclimatise to the weather conditions expected in Glasgow.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR

Neeraj will lead the Indian athletics squad.
| Photo Credit: PTI

On June 27 evening, immediately after Sarvesh Kushare ended his four-year quest to better Tejaswin Shankar’s eight-year-old high jump National record of 2.28m at the National inter-state athletics meet at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar by clearing 2.31m, Tejaswin took to his ‘X’ handle to write: “Another mental barrier broken!! 2.30+ was probably the last of the sticky records. 2.34-35 is just a matter of time.”

Worlds and Olympics gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra endorsed Tejaswin’s statement, and Sarvesh’s achievement of becoming the first Indian to go past 2.30m, by reposting it.

With very few world-class marks to their name, Indian athletes’ hunger for success is understandable. Perhaps that appetite kept 30-year-old Sarvesh patient in the hunt to surpass the 2.30m barrier. He had missed it by a whisker when he recorded 2.28m at the Federation meet in Ranchi a month ago, before seeing his perseverance rewarded.

No excuse

“At 2.28m, my ankle slipped a little in Ranchi. I was in good condition. I still had a light injury. But I had to do it today. There was no excuse. The weather was good. The ground was also good. Overall, there was a lot of motivation. I also held the Asian Games qualifying mark for the first time. I’m improving — what more can I ask for!” said Sarvesh.

“My body felt good. My coach had said it would happen this time. I was determined. 2.30m was not happening despite my long-time effort to get it. So, I thought today I would do 2.31m. It was a lot of fun doing that,” said Sarvesh, as he displayed different antics as the bar went up and up and he kept sailing over it effortlessly.

“It was very difficult to go above 2.30m. If Tejaswin had not done 2.28m in 2018, I would not have come this far. I was also progressing slowly. Today, by the grace of God, everything went well. I have tried this during training, but I had not done it so well prior to today. Since our preparation was top-class, anything was possible.”

Now, 2.31m has placed Sarvesh as the joint fourth season leader in the world, along with British jumper Kimani Jack, and first in Asia, ahead of tied-sixth spot holders Japan’s Naoto Hasegawa and Tomohiro Shinno and Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo, who have all cleared 2.30m. “Everyone wants to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. I will also try to win one,” said Sarvesh.

Pressure under control

Sarvesh’s coach Jithin Thomas, a former Asian silver medallist with a personal best of 2.22m, shared his thoughts about the feat. “This time, the pressure was under control. I told him to stay focused and control the pressure. This time, the work was about that. I knew if we controlled the pressure, then the jump would happen.”

For Sarvesh, who competed in the Paris Olympics and was a finalist at the Tokyo World Championships last year, the right pace of his run-up did the trick. Apart from the requisite exercises, visualisation is a main activity in Sarvesh’s training.

“The difference was the run-up. Earlier, he used to pick up speed from the beginning and move uncontrollably. He was trying to speed up too early. Now, in the beginning, the speed was under control. Then gradually, it went up. He was trained that way. He needs to work on it. I told him, ‘Stay focused and you will clear it smoothly.’

“I told him that no one has done 2.30m in India. If you do 2.30m, your name will be up there as long as high jump is there in India.

Patience pays

“In high jump, there is a mark for everyone. Then it becomes stagnant. Some people pursue it for two-three years and leave it. If you have patience, then you will be able to improve it. Because Sarvesh had the patience, he could do it. There was this belief that he would do it, so now there is relief. It’s the greatest day of my life. “Because he had done (well earlier), he was after it. We were focused. We were careful that he should not pick up any injuries. There were small injuries. Still, we were focused. We kept talking about it. The mark kept improving and we were able to do it.”

With a smile, Sarvesh, who hails from a village near Nashik in Maharashtra, quipped, “He (Jithin) spoke very little to me this week. I don’t know what he was thinking.”

Sarvesh acknowledges that the support extended by his coach, his family, his employer the Indian Army, his sponsor OGQ, and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) played a key role in his journey. “I am confident. If the training goes well and there are no injuries, then confidence will increase. If everyone’s support is there, then we can go ahead. Especially my coach, who has not taken any leave for seven months, and my family members are very supportive. That’s why I am able to do it. Otherwise, I would have been disturbed.”

Sarvesh is happy to note that Indian jumpers, including women’s National record holder Pooja Singh — who, like Sarvesh, trains at the Anju Bobby George Academy in Bengaluru — are doing well. “Yes, it did impact me mentally that Pooja broke the National mark. She set a record of 1.93m. We were thinking that we would do well. She made a National record before me. I did it after her. Dev Meena is also doing well in pole vault. He is also breaking National records. This is a good year for jumpers.” Needless to say, long jumpers Ancy Sojan, who broke Anju’s 22-year-old National record, and M. Sreeshankar and Shahnavaz Khan, who achieved his season best, are also among the Indians who have achieved world-class marks this season.

Encouraging sign

Even in men’s high jump, the presence of some good athletes, including Tejaswin, Adarsh Ram, and Basant, is an encouraging sign. “A pool of jumpers should be there — only then can there be improvement. Otherwise, Sarvesh will be alone. Whoever achieves something first, his name remains up there,” said Jithin.

After breaching the 2.30m peak in June, Sarvesh became the first Indian high jumper to earn a podium, by finishing third with a mark of 2.26m, on his Diamond League debut in Monaco on July 10. Now, Sarvesh and his coach Jithin are bubbling with confidence while eyeing higher marks and glorious medals in the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. “I hope Sarvesh maintains his focus and patience. He will go far,” said Jithin.

Published – July 15, 2026 11:56 pm IST

Ancy Sojan, having eclipsed Anju Bobby George’s 22-year-old National mark of 6.83m set at the 2004 Athens Olympics, has a clear target: the Asian Games gold in Aichi-Nagoya in September this year.

“I want to bring the gold medal with a high class jump. I am aiming for the Asian Games record also so that I can directly qualify for the World championship next year. 6.86m is the qualification mark (for the Worlds) and the qualifying period will start from August 23,” said Ancy, who clinched a silver medal at the last Asian Games in 2023 with a jump of 6.63m. She is now the Asian season leader, thanks to her effort of 6.88m at the National inter-State athletics meet in Bhubaneswar recently

On her exceptional performance in hot and humid conditions, Ancy — who had recorded her personal best of 6.75m at the Federation meet in Ranchi in May — said, “I came here to do my personal best and be a good world class performer. I didn’t aim for the National Record.”

She was relieved with the breakthrough. “Finally it happened, I felt like I was getting tired but I remembered ‘What if I go to represent our country and if I feel tired?’ Suddenly, I remembered my last Asian Games and I got a boost. With all the belief, I took a good breath and jumped, it happened.”

She’s happy with the progress but wants more. “I am so happy that I am improving. I think, let’s aim higher than this.

An experiment

“Mentally and physically it’s like an experiment. You get tired but still you have to jump because you train for that. I want the energy, after 10 jumps I want to stay the same. Each and every training session I am thinking about the target I want to achieve, so that it helps me push more. Today I thought I was competing in the Asian Games and I felt that someone could beat me, so I needed to grab the medal for our nation. Suddenly it encouraged me, it’s fun.”

For Ancy, the record-breaking jump, which pushed her to seventh place among world leaders this season, sent a message. “This is a statement that India also has good jumpers, if someone works hard she can achieve it. Just believe in yourself, be patient and be dedicated to our work. People will say things but never mind, be true to yourself. I do the same.”

The build-up to her remarkable performance in Bhubaneswar started after the Ranchi meet. “After that (Ranchi), I trained hard the same way. Every training I just aimed at what I wanted to be… focusing on technique, run-up and fitness. Each session I pushed hard, I just stuck to my plan.

“Lots of people asked me why you didn’t push for the Commonwealth Games qualification. I knew this jump was not easy, so I needed more time for training. I just focused on training only, so I could get there. This was the only (qualifying) competition for the Asian Games. I worked hard and finally got a good result. We had a good plan, God helped us.”

The record wasn’t Ancy’s target. “I was not chasing the record actually. I didn’t have any records in my name at the National level. I wanted to do my personal best and a world class jump. Because I am aiming to compete at the international level. I see their enthusiasm. I had competed before in my first Commonwealth (in 2022 and did 6.25m). I was a beginner and I saw people jumping. It was like literally enraged me, their speed and ability. So I felt like I could also do the same. If I want to be like them, I need to jump like them. I aim to become a world-class jumper. I want to keep improving. I want to be consistent with that.”

The competition had tense moments. “Before my first jump, I was under a little bit of pressure, I wanted to be safe. But the first jump I did in my lifetime, 7m-plus jump. I was so happy and tension-free. In between, there were some fouls and minor issues. Then I was a little tired, so I went to my coach (Anoop Joseph), because I felt some stomach issues. He said, ‘Nothing, you are okay.’ It charged me up, suddenly I got goosebumps and my eyes got wet.

“I then remembered a scene… I was watching a reel of the film on Milkha Singh. He is wearing the India blazer and is asked ‘Who told you to wear this?’ And he says, ‘I am just trying this.’ Suddenly the coach comes and hits him and says, ‘If you want to wear the Indian jersey, you have to beat him (your opponent). His coach insisted, ‘Tell him you have to beat him.’ Finally Milkha says, ‘Yes.’ It really inspired me. The same thing I tell myself, you have to beat that. And finally the moment happened.”

A legend

For Ancy, her senior Kerala Statemate Anju remains an inspiration. “I knew Anju ma’am had a huge jump, 6.83m. She struggled a lot (to reach there). She is a legend. I am aiming to be like her, I want to become a world class jumper.

“I want to say that ma’am is truly an inspiration. I recently read that she has one kidney and her story inspired me a lot. I saw her jump several times and I knew how hard she trained for that also. I hope ma’am is happy about this and would support me.”

Ancy looked back at the hormonal issues that had held her back last year. “I had some hormonal issues, I was not able to get fit like this. This year I sacrificed a lot of food and decided that I wanted to become a world class jumper. Even my coach reminded me, ‘If you sacrifice and be dedicated, you will get the result. If you want to jump like a top performer, you will have to train like that.’ So if I feel tired during training, I say, ‘You have to do it.’ It helps me to push harder and train.

“I am mentally more stable than before. The experience, the difficulties and the obstacles have made me stronger. And God is helping me. I never thought it would happen. I was missing the mark narrowly because of some mistakes. But finally it happened.”

Disciplined lifestyle

Ancy doesn’t regret maintaining a disciplined lifestyle. “I love to eat a lot of food. But I remember why I am here. I tell myself, ‘First you achieve your goal, then eat.’ All the sacrifices including social media, food, whatever, will get you the result.

“I reduced my food quantity because of the hormonal issues as I used to put on weight. It is very hard to jump with a lot of weight. Last year I struggled with that. This year my diet is good. I started early, took time and prepared very well. I followed my coach’s advice. I got the result. Now I am 55kg. Before this, it was 63kg. Now my body fat is 13% after coming down from 26%.”

Ancy rides on her renewed confidence as she approaches the Asian Games. “This year I want to bring gold and hear the National anthem of India. I love biryani and rice. Now I completely avoid that. Maybe, I will have that after the Asian Games,” she said.

Published – July 06, 2026 01:06 am IST

Neeraj says his preparation was good for the Doha Diamond League meet and is happy with whatever he achieved there.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Even as cut-throat competition gives elite athletics meets an elevated status, tales of camaraderie pleasantly break the monotony by adding a human element to them.

Enduring visuals of Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi sharing the men’s high jump gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Belgian steeplechaser Tim Van de Velde sacrificing his own position to help Colombia’s Carlos San Martin finish the race at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, and Robson De Oliveira and Aaron Beggs carrying an exhausted Ajay Haridasse over the line at this year’s Boston Marathon evoked impromptu appreciation from spectators in recent times.

Tight contests, tight bonds

However, such instances are not restricted to international athletics alone. Top-level competitions in India have also seen fine examples of keen contests and close companionship. The recently held Federation meet at Birsa Munda Stadium, Morabadi, Ranchi, featured high-level performances as well as excellent displays of comradeship among athletes.

The close duel between female long jumpers Ancy Sojan and Shaili Singh, the intense rivalry between national record holder Gurindervir Singh and Animesh Kujur in the men’s 100m, and the battle of one-upmanship between training partners and eventual joint national record holders Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar in the men’s pole vault do not necessarily mean they are bitter opponents off the field. Rather, they offer exceptional case studies of bonding between athletes.

For Ancy, who wholeheartedly cheered for her closest competitor Shaili in the background prior to the latter’s attempts, rivalry is not equivalent to enmity.

“I don’t consider my competitors as enemies. I just see them as friends. I always cheer for them. Because they are focused, they also try hard. So I wanted to motivate Shaili and help her do her best. That’s why I cheer for her. It is a good thing to cheer for your rivals,” says Ancy, who won the event.

Gurindervir is delighted that his mouthwatering showdowns on the track with Kujur, which are built on a strong foundation of brotherhood, bring eyeballs to athletics.

“I have been waiting for this for a long time. Our sport, sprinting, and athletics should get visibility. Every person enjoys watching a rivalry. When Animesh runs well, I feel that I have to run better. I have to do more hard training. When I run well, Animesh feels that he has to train even harder. We get motivation from each other,” says Gurindervir, who became the first Indian to go below 10.10 seconds when he won gold.

“We are good friends. We are room-mates. We are brothers. We are competitors. When we train, we are training partners. When we go out, we are friends.”

Gurindervir’s coach James Hillier feels such healthy competition — the national record changed hands twice in the semifinals before Gurindervir’s historic 10.09s run in the final — augurs well for sprinting in the country.

“It’s a great rivalry, and in a way it probably helped Gurindervir that Animesh broke the record [10.17] in the semifinals [clocking 10.15 within minutes of Gurindervir breaking Kujur’s previous record of 10.18]. It took a bit of the limelight off him and the pressure was sort of back on Animesh. It’s really bringing Indian sprinting down [in terms of time],” says Hillier.

Coming from the same stable, Madhya Pradesh Athletics Academy (MPAA), pole vaulters Meena and Kuldeep are brothers in arms. They train together under coach Ghanshyam Yadav, carry their poles and travel together while challenging each other to the best of their ability. Ultimately, the success one achieves makes the other happy, as they believe their teamwork will help them attain excellence. Coincidentally, the two were tied at 5.45m and shared the new national record at Ranchi.

“We will continue to fight with each other so that we can raise the level,” says Meena.

Kuldeep, who joined the MPAA a year ago, was welcomed by the already established Meena, as he saw that pushing the mark alone was a difficult task for him.

Victory through harmony

“We will do better in the future. It is a very technical sport. We are working on it. We are learning more and more with each passing day. If we learn and improve, it will be very good for both of us. We fight during our training. We fight during competitions. We support each other. We go ahead of each other. We are good friends. We should work to bring laurels for the country,” says Kuldeep.

While complementing each other, they have no hesitation in appreciating each other’s strengths.

“Dev’s technique is good. I think his competition mindset is good. I won’t say mine is bad either. I give him a good fight,” says Kuldeep.

“Kuldeep has a powerful body. I have got speed,” notes Meena.

Their coach Ghanshyam Yadav loves his two obedient trainees. “They are training together and competing with each other. Their communication with me is very good. If you say something to them, they will listen to you. They are training together and using the same pole,” says Yadav.

Acknowledging the media’s role in highlighting the plight of his wards while travelling with poles on a train in January and making their lives a little easier, Yadav dreams of guiding Meena and Kuldeep to greater glory and transforming pole vault into a well-known sport in India.

“We are trying to take the pole vault to a new height. Like Neeraj Chopra, who highlighted javelin by shining at the Olympics, we also want to take pole vault to that level,” says Yadav.

If the Federation meet was full of high-class performances and great camaraderie, it also had an aberration in the form of an undesirable feud between 40-year-old Olympian Sandeep Kumar and 18-year-old promising athlete Nitin Gupta in the men’s 10,000m racewalk.

After Gupta won the race comfortably, beating second-placed Sandeep, the two Army athletes, who train under different coaches, exchanged pleasantries and posed for photographs.

However, in a behind-the-scenes tussle for success, Sandeep filed a complaint against Gupta for receiving assistance from fellow competitors during the race. In the end, Gupta was disqualified for breaching World Athletics technical rules and Sandeep was crowned champion.

While different coaches present at the venue had varied opinions about the episode, it exposed intra-departmental competitiveness which not only created an unfriendly environment but also ended up being a disheartening experience for an emerging talent.

Of course, one can draw parallels to such incidents of bitter rivalry in international athletics over the decades, including Sebastian Coe versus Steve Ovett at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and Mary Decker versus Zola Budd at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Grace under pressure

No matter how much athletes push themselves to the limit and put their composure through stern tests, instances of companionship, a genuine emotion prevailing in humanity, will always outnumber examples of bitter competitiveness not only in track and field but also in sport at large.

As the 2026 calendar gears up for more intensity, with events such as the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games promising top-class action, one can only hope to see an atmosphere of fellowship in a world divided by conflicts.