Nagoya, September 29 (Daily Kiran) : Indian runner Gulveer Singh made history at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, completing a remarkable medal hat-trick. On September 29, he secured a bronze medal in the men’s 5000-meter final at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
Gulveer finished the race with a time of 13:32.75 seconds. Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew clinched the gold medal with a time of 13:30.79, while Japan’s Tomonori Yamaguchi took silver, finishing in 13:31.43.
Earlier in the games, Gulveer had already earned silver medals in both the 10,000 meters and 1500 meters events. With this achievement, he became the first Indian athlete in 40 years to win three medals in a single edition of the Asian Games. The last to accomplish such a feat was P.T. Usha, who won four medals at the 1986 Asian Games.
In the 5000-meter final, Gulveer maintained a strong position, staying with the lead group. After the first 2000 meters, he was in third place, holding his ground throughout the decisive phases of the race, although he could not challenge for the top two spots.
In the 10,000-meter race, Gulveer delivered a stellar performance, finishing with a time of 28:29.38 to claim silver. He became the first Indian to win two medals in this event at the Asian Games, having previously secured bronze in the same race at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. He followed this up with another silver medal in the men’s 1500 meters, achieving a personal best time of 3:36.72.
In other events, Pooja Olla finished seventh in the women’s 800 meters final with a time of 2:06.72. China’s Wu Hongjiao won gold in that event with a time of 2:04.49. Meanwhile, in the men’s 800 meters final, Mohammad Afsal Pulikkalakath finished eighth, clocking in at 1:48.27. Japan’s Ko Ochiayi set a new Asian Games record by winning gold in the men’s 800 meters with a time of 1:44.48, breaking the previous record held by Iran’s Sajjad Moradi for 16 years.
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