Gurindervir Singh

Olympic athlete

The Sprinter. The Record Setter. The Stubborn One.

Gurindervir Singh grew up in Patial, a village near Jalandhar in Punjab. He serves in the Indian Navy and runs the 100 metres. In May 2026, he became the first Indian to run it in under 10.10 seconds.

A Lane of his own

Coaches pointed him towards the 400 metres. He stayed in the 100.

He has been a 100-metre runner since the under-14 days. Coaches tried to talk him out of it. The 100 metres was not for Indians, they said, and there was no scope for it. They suggested the 400 metres instead. He ignored all of them. He did not argue the point. Years later, an illness nearly ended his career. His father told him that if it was not cured, he would have to give up running. The problem was eventually identified by a doctor who was a friend of his then coach, and it was corrected. Reliance Foundation later selected him for specialised training in Mumbai under the English coach James Hiller. The stubbornness that kept him in the lane as a boy is the same quality that kept him on the track as a man.

10.09: India’s fastest man on the track

In Ranchi, he ran faster than any Indian before him.

Before Ranchi, his best was 10.20, set at the Indian Grand Prix 1 in Bengaluru, which lowered the national record. At the Federation Cup in May 2026, the record changed hands over two days. He lowered it in the semifinal. Animesh Kujur took it back within minutes. In the final, Gurindervir ran 10.09 seconds and became the first Indian to go under 10.10. Crossing the line, he held up a handwritten note. It read: "Task is not finished yet." Afterwards, he said he wanted to prove everyone wrong. That sentence suits someone who was told as a child to run a different race. Both days belonged to him in the end, whatever the scoreboard showed in between. The time belongs to the record books. The note says what he thinks of it.