August 1 was a historic day for India at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland. Along with boxers and weightlifting, impressive performances were also seen in athletics. Gulvir Singh created history in athletics. Gulvir Singh became the first Indian to win a bronze medal in the 5000 meters race by clocking 13:24.95. He also became the first Indian to win more than one medal in athletics at the Commonwealth Games. He created history by winning not one but two medals in this competition. Earlier, Gulvir had won a silver medal in the 10,000 meters race.
Gulvir won the medal in the last moments
The 5000m race was held on Saturday, August 1, the tenth day of the Glasgow Games. India’s Gulvir had maintained his strong position from the start. He was in the top five till the final round. Then, as the final round began, he briefly slipped from fourth to fifth place. But in the last minute, Kenya’s Cornelius Kemboi tried hard to overtake him in the 200-300m, but Gulvir did not give up and eventually won the bronze medal by finishing the race in 13:24:95. In this event, Kenya’s Matthew Kipsang won the gold medal by clocking 13:23:61, while Australia’s Kay Robinson won the silver medal by clocking 13:24:70.
First Indian to win a medal in this competition
With this victory, Gulvir Singh became the first Indian to win a medal in the 5000 metres at the Commonwealth Games. Not only that, he also became the first Indian to win two different athletics medals at the same Commonwealth Games. Four days before this successful race, he had also won a silver medal in the 10,000 metres, making him the first Indian to win this medal. There too, he was defeated by Australia’s Robinson to win the gold medal.
The start of the run to join the army
Gulvir Singh, a 28-year-old resident of Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh, started running to join the army and joined the Indian Army in 2018. He continued running even after joining the army, which gave Gulvir the opportunity to participate in athletics. Gulvir won a bronze medal in the 10,000m race at the 2022 Asian Games. Not only that, in 2026, when Gulvir completed the half marathon in just 59 minutes and 42 seconds, he became the first Indian athlete to complete the race in under an hour.