Indian Athletes Excel On Road To Paris, Gulveer Sets National Record In Men's 5000m

Sound Running On Track Fest: As the Paris Olympic Games draw closer, Indian athletes are building up for the mega event in earnest, some of them coming up with their best performance in either gearing up for the event or hoping to qualify for the Games to be held from June 26 to July 11.

On Sunday, India's Gulveer Singh set a National Record in men's 5000 metres at the Portland Track Festival in the USA on Saturday. The record is yet to be ratified by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), which said it will follow the usual procedure before taking a decision.

Gulveer Singh clocked 13 minutes, 18.92 seconds to set a new National Record in Men's 5000m. Besides the record, Gulveer also won a silver medal in the meet, finishing behind Dylan Jacobs of the United States who clocked 13:18.18. The existing Indian national record is 13:18.92 in the name of Avinash Sable, set at the Sound Running On Track Fest 2023 in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, TOPS athlete Avinash Sable finished second in the Men's 3000m steeplechase with a timing of 8:21.85 in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze event organised by USA Athletics.

Another TOPS athlete and 2022 Asian Games double medallist Parul Chaudhary finished third in Women's 3000m steeplechase with a timing of 9:31.38.

Parvej Khan also excelled on the Road to Paris as he set a personal best of 3:36.21 in men's 1500m in the USA. Parvej is the second fastest Indian all-time at this distance behind Jinson Johnson.

On Sunday, he improved his personal best by more than 2 seconds, clocking the fastest time by an Indian this year. Parvej had a disappointing race, missing to make the final of the NCAATF, the US collegiate circuit.

Meanwhile, AFI president Adille Sumariwalla has clarified that no record will be ratified without dope tests, whether in India or abroad. The AFI will check with the organisers of the meets where the said record is set and find out whether the athlete concerned has undergone a dope test after his performance.

Sumariwalla's clarification on social media comes as there are concerns about whether athletes setting records are undergoing dope tests or not. Usually, athletes finishing on the podium are tested compulsorily while only a few of the others are called for random testing.

This has given rise to concerns that in some cases records may be set without dope tests, thus raising question marks on the legitimacy of the said performance.

The AFI president's assurance makes things clear.