Gurindervir Singh runs today. That’s it. No warm-up lap, no mental rehearsal. Just the 100m straight at the Asian Games 2026. The 25-year-old holds the Indian record at 10.09s, a mark set in Ranchi back in May, but the path here hasn't been a straight line. It’s been jagged.
Consider the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July. He clocked 10.39s. Finished second in his heat. Gone. 28th overall. Then Bhubaneswar in August: another 10.39s, seventh place in the final. It looked like a slump. But by September 10 in Delhi, he was back to 10.32s. Still, he lost to compatriot Animesh Kujur, who stormed to 10.21s. “The start was a little weak,” Gurindervir admitted. “My block exit wasn’t good.”
So he fixed it. Two weeks of weight training, endurance work, and tweaking the last 20 metres—his coach’s persistent obsession. “I have improved a lot in terms of physique,” he said. Now, the field is different. We’re not talking about domestic rivals anymore. This is Yuki Koike (9.98s PB), Shuhei Tada (10.01s), and Puripol Boonson (9.94s). It’s a field of sub-10.10 athletes. Gurindervir’s 10.09s puts him right in the thick of it. “There is a slight difference of one or two micro-points,” he noted. “Anything can happen.”
He’s not chasing a specific time today. He’s chasing a medal. “For me, the medal is the most important thing,” he said. The sub-10 barrier? That’s the next target. “If it happens, let it happen at the Asian Games.” The timing is in the training graphs, he claims. Now he just needs the race to go right.
Next up: The heats are on. Then comes the real test. Can he beat Asia’s best, or will the 10.09s record remain the ceiling for now?