Asian champion Gulveer Singh missed a historic men’s 5000m final berth by just 0.19 seconds, while Annu Rani bowed out in the women’s javelin throw qualifiers at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo on Friday.
Running in Heat 2 of the 5000m, Gulveer clocked 13:42.34 to finish ninth, just behind Norway’s two-time Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who claimed the final qualifying spot in 13:42.15.
The 27-year-old Indian athlete kept himself in contention for most of the race. At 1000m, he sat third and was second at 2900m, just 0.10 seconds adrift of leader Grant Fisher of the USA.
However, a fading final lap dash cost him the chance to become the first Indian to reach a 5000m final at the Worlds.
Reflecting on the race, Gulveer admitted that the conditions played their part. “My training in USA was good but because of this weather my body hasn’t responded well here. In the last kilometre I was left short,” he said. “This was my first championships and I have learned a lot from all the big athletes here. Next time, I believe I will do better than this. Now I will focus on the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.”
At the Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge in February, Gulveer ran 12:59.77 to break both the Asian short track and Indian national record. He became the first Asian man under 13 minutes in the 5000m short track.
Gulveer also struck 5000m gold at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Gumi with a meet record of 13:24.77. Earlier in Tokyo, he finished 16th in the 10000m final with 29:13.33.