Gurmeet Singh
Personal information
NationalityIndian
Born (1985-07-01) 1 July 1985[1]
Uttarakhand, India
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event20 kilometres race walk

Gurmeet Singh (born 1 July 1985 in Uttarakhand, India) is an Indian athlete who competes in the 20 kilometres race walk event. He is a current Indian record holder in the 20 km race walk, which he set in the Indian Grand Prix I in Patiala in May 2011.[2] Gurmeet is sponsored by the Mittal Champions Trust, an initiative run by steel magnate Lakshmi N. Mittal.[3] He is one of the three Indian athletes who qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in 20 km race walk event with an 'A' qualification standard (1:22:30).[4] He achieved this berth in the 18th Dublin International Grand Prix in Ireland after finishing sixth with a time of 1:22:05.[5]

In the event he clocked a time of 1:23:34 and finished 33rd.[6]

Life and career

Singh was born in a small village in Uttarakhand state. He considers his cousin Surjit Singh, who also is a discus thrower, his inspiration for choosing athletics. He won a silver in the national junior championships in 2000. He finished fifth in the 2001 Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Brunei.[7]

His career turned around in late 2010, when he started training at Sports Authority of India, Bangalore centre under the coach Ramakrishnan Gandhi. In March 2012, he walked a time of 1:21:31 at the Asian Championships in Nomi, Japan.[8] He clinched a gold medal in the Asian 20 km race walk championship finishing 1 hour 20 minutes and 29 seconds in Mar 2016. This is the first time such record in 34 years that an Indian won a gold in either an Asian championship or Asian Games event.

Personal life

Singh is married to Deepmala Devi, also a 20 km walker.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Gurmeet Singh IAAF profile". iaaf.org. IAAF. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  2. ↑ "Gurmeet smashes 20km walk national record". The Times of India. New Delhi: timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "10 Mittal Champions qualify for London Olympics Games 2012". mittalchampionstrust.com. Mittal Champions Trust. 31 March 2012. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Berth for Baljinder, silver for Gurmeet". The Hindu. thehindu.com. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Victories go to China and Finland in Dublin". iaaf.org. IAAF. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "Gurmeet Singh Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Gurmeet Singh". intoday.in India Today. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  8. 1 2 "The loneliness of the long-distance walkers". The Hindu. 7 July 2012.
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