When Gurindervir Singh warmed up on the tracks while listening to religious Punjabi vaar (war) songs, prior to the men’s 100m final of the Federation athletics meet at the Birsa Munda Stadium (Morabadi), his high energy level was unmistakable. The battle was two-fold for him. The Navyman wanted to get back the National record with a new mark while proving to the world that Indians can run fast.

100m sprinting: Gurindervir Singh is India’s fastest man, but the finish line is still far away

The 25-year-old, hailing from Jalandhar, progressed in his mission by clocking 10.09, and becoming the first Indian to record a sub-10.10 time, while wresting the National record from his closest rival and friend Animesh Kujur.

“I had self-belief, I had done hard training. I got good timing during training. The coach had belief that we could do it. Besides, the vaar songs playing into my ears took me to a different zone,” said Gurindervir.

Now, Gurindervir wants to run 100m even faster and emerge as a path-breaker like Milkha Singh and Neeraj Chopra.

“A lot of people think that Indians can’t sprint. Indians’ genes are not made for sprinting.

“Until Milkha Singh, there was no 400m champion. Milkha made a path and everyone started running on that path.

“Before Neeraj Chopra, there was no big name in javelin. When Neeraj won the Olympic gold medal, everyone wanted to do javelin. He broke the mental barrier that Indians can throw javelin and win gold in Olympics. Similarly, it is my wish, my dream that I should make a path on which people can walk and believe that we can do it too.”

Gurindervir admitted that he could not handle the success after breaking the National record (10.20, March 2025) for the first time and saw his performance dip.

“Last year, I was not a mature athlete...I could have achieved a lot. But my decisions were wrong. I chose something wrong. I made mistakes, but learned from my mistakes.

“Mentally, I am very strong this time. I will not back down soon. I have a support system. This time, there is no chance (of making mistakes). I have to carry this focus and mentality till the end.”

Reliance Foundation’s athletics director James Hillier adds perspective to this. “His mind wasn’t conditioned to break the record. So what happened, it came as a bit of a surprise. It was just bombardment. It was so much pressure and he just wasn’t ready for it. He couldn’t deal with it, he couldn’t cope with it...We had some really difficult conversations and he has come back really well. He has learnt a lot from that and respect for him (for that).

“Sometimes the success is the worst thing that can happen to you. It puts a different level of pressure and expectation on you... he’ll manage this well. It won’t stifle him like it did last year, I’m absolutely sure of that. He’s a very mature young man now. In training, he has been brilliant. I can’t fault him, he has been fantastic. He deserves everything he gets.”

Hillier was confident that Gurindervir would improve his performance in the future. “We just keep pushing. In training, based on my models, anything from 10.06 to 10.10 is where I felt he could do, if he executed perfectly. So he’s still got a little bit more execution there, 10.09. We’ve got a little bit more based on how he is now.

“We expect him to improve this year, next year. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I do expect him to keep improving. The times are coming down, which is good.”

Healthy rivalry

Gurindervir loves his intense rivalry with Kujur. “I have been waiting for this for a long time. Every person enjoys watching a rivalry. Animesh has a hardcore fan base. 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 do more hard training. We get motivation from each other. We are roommates. We are brothers. We are competitors. When we are training, we are training partners. When we are out, we are friends.”

Talented bunch

Not just Kujur, but the presence of a bunch of talented sprinters like Manikanta Hoblidhar and Pranav Gurav pushes the sprinters, including Gurindervir, to raise their level.

“If Gurindervir wants to win this competition, he has to run fast. If everyone else is running 10.05, he only needs to run 10.04. Now he knew Animesh ran 10.15, he needed to run faster than that to win. The guys have no choice now. 10.29s, 10.20s are getting bronze medals now. Five years ago, 10.50 was getting a gold medal. The whole thing is moving on. It’s a very, very exciting time for Indian sprinting,” said Hillier.

Gurindervir feels better infrastructure would help athletes perform even better. “If this was a Mondo track with a good warm-up area and a good ground facility, then the races would start looking good.”

Gurindervir, who was inspired by seeing one his father’s action pictures and trophies earned as a National-level volleyball player before taking up sport, got further motivated by watching Usain Bolt’s 2008 Beijing Olympics feats and Yohan Blake’s running technique and weight training.

Gurindervir is happy to receive his family’s support and understanding. “I explained to my father this is how it is. Then he understood, now he knows everything. How does the 100m run happen, how does the body open, when does the race start. Like I ran 10.40 in Delhi, but he had no stress. He said, ‘No problem, our target is something else. You rely on training and the race will start on its own.’”

For Gurindervir and Hillier, apart from the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games is a major target this season. If Gurindervir is able to repeat his sub-10.10 performance in these big Games, then not only will he make a name for himself but will also succeed in his mission to let the world know that Indian sprinters can also run fast.