GLASGOW, JUL 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.
Harjinder Kaur wins silver in weightlifting
India’s Harjinder Kaur added another medal to the country’s tally at the Commonwealth Games 2026, clinching the silver medal in the women’s 69kg weightlifting competition on Tuesday.
Harjinder registered a combined lift of 227kg, opening with 101kg in the snatch before producing a best effort of 126kg in the clean and jerk.
Canada’s Charlotte Simoneau claimed the gold medal with a total lift of 240kg (108kg snatch + 132kg clean and jerk), while Australia’s Nya Phebe Hayman secured the bronze with 218kg.
Harjinder stayed in medal contention throughout the competition and sealed second place with a successful 126kg lift in her final clean and jerk attempt, ensuring India another podium finish in Glasgow.
This is the seventh medal for India in weightlifting, with one gold, five silver and one bronze medal. Mirabai Chanu has won the gold medal for India in the women’s 49 kg. Rishikanta Singh Chanambam, Raja Muthupandi, Valluri Ajaya Babu, Gyaneshwari Yadav and Harjinder Kaur bagged silver medals while Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam claimed the lone bronze so far.
Born on October 14, 1996, into a modest, landless farming family in Mehas village near Nabha in Punjab, Harjinder Kaur grew up in a single-room house. She faced severe financial constraints, as her father struggled to afford basic training expenses.
Despite these hurdles, her rural upbringing laid the foundation for her athletic success. For hours each day, she manually operated a heavy chaff-cutting machine (toka) to prepare cattle fodder. This gruelling manual labour unintentionally built exceptional upper-body strength and muscular power, which later became her biggest asset on the lifting platform.
Her sporting journey began late and unexpectedly. Harjinder was initially a passionate Kabaddi player, training as a raider and even cycling five kilometres daily just to practice. It was only in 2016, at the age of 20, that her life changed at Punjabi University in Patiala.
Ankush, Sakshi, Arundhati, Sachin, Narender assured medals
It was a flawless day for India’s boxing contingent at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday as Narender Berwal joined Ankush Panghal, Sakshi Chaudhary, Arundhati Choudhary and Sachin Siwach in the semifinals, making it five wins out of five bouts for the country on the day. With the five wins on Wednesday, the number of Indian boxers in the semifinals rose to nine as the feat has already eclipsed India’s boxing tally from the Birmingham 2022, where the country had finished with seven medals — three gold, one silver and three bronze.
The five boxers on the day joined Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Jadumani Singh (55kg), who have already secured semifinal berths.
While Sakshi (51kg) defeated Northern Ireland’s Caitlin Fryers 5-0, Arundhati (70kg) had to work hard for her 3-1 win against New Zealand’s Morgan Henderson to assure themselves of at least a bronze medal.
Former world youth champion Siwach also assured himself of at least a bronze after storming into the men’s 60kg semifinals.
The world No. 5 Indian outclassed Botswana’s Treasure Moremi 5-0 by unanimous decision, producing a composed performance and winning convincingly on all five judges’ scorecards.
In the fourth bout of the session, last year’s World Boxing Cup Finals silver medallist Ankush Panghal entered the men’s 80kg semifinals with a commanding 5-0 unanimous decision over Seychelles’ Jade Micock.
Later Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal also advanced after edging Samoa’s Michael Seko 3-2 by split decision in a hard-fought men’s 90+kg quarterfinal.