If anyone had predicted two months ago that Gurindervir will not be even able to tear through the heats, then absolutely no would have believed it but fast forward to July, the 25-year-old is not even going to get a shot at a podium finish
Published: July 27, 2026, 4:49 PM IST
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File photo of Gurindervir Singh from the National Senior Athletics Federation Cup in Ranchi. (Credits: IANS)
India’s fastest man and perhaps one of the biggest medal prospects for the nation at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow- Gurindervir Singh – has bowed out of the competition on his debut appearance after failing to qualify for the semi-finals in the men’s 100m event. This is a major blow for the Indian contingent as hopes of a possible medal in athletics were dashed on Monday.
Gurindervir Singh needed a timing of 10.24 seconds in the opening round of the Heats but he finished the race within 10.39, 15 seconds more than the qualification mark. It was not an ideal start for India on the opening day of Athletics at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The 25-year-old, who was drawn in lane 4, had made a good start to the race, staying close to Jamaica’s Rohan Watson in the early moments before falling behind in the final 35 meters or so. Watson eventually finished 1st with a timing of 10.13 seconds.
Following the conclusion of all the 11 heats, Gurindervir Singh finished 28th out of a total 73 runners in the heats. It was definitely a disappointing outcome for the Punjabi sprinter, who was all over the news recently during the Federation Cup back in May in the build up to the games in Glasgow.
In fact, if anyone had predicted two months ago that Gurindervir will not be even able to tear through the heats, then absolutely no would have believed it but fast forward to July, the 25-year-old is not even going to get a shot at a podium finish.
During the Federation Cup, Gurindervir Singh had set the track on fire by setting up a national record of 10.09 seconds in the 100m event, becoming the first Indian to break the 10.10s barrier. He had previously broken the record set by Animesh Kujur of 10.18s by finishing the opening semi-final of the Federation Cup within 10.17s.
Those performances had automatically made him a medal favorite at the Commonwealth Games but now he will return to his training base with plenty of lessons and improvements to make.
Elsewhere in Athletics, Murali Sreeshankar qualified for the finals of men’s long jump with a best jump of 8.01 meters whereas Tejas Shirse also secured qualification to the men’s 110m hurdles final after finishing 3rd with a timing of 13.76s.
