Gurinderveer Singh from Punjab (PTI Image)
Indian athletics witnessed a historic evening at the National Senior Federation on Saturday, with Gurinderveer Singh breaking the men’s national record in the 100m with a time of 10.09 seconds, while Vishal TK became the first Indian ever to clock under 45 seconds in the 400m. The action-packed second day also saw Tejaswin Shankar rewrite history in the decathlon as he became the first Indian to cross the 8,000-point mark. Representing the Reliance Foundation, Gurenderfer provided the highlight moment of the meet in the men’s 100m final. The Punjabi runner crossed the finish line in 10.09 seconds, making him the first Indian athlete to break the 10.10 second barrier. His effort is now the second fastest time recorded by an Asian this season, behind Japanese runner Fukuto Komuro, who recorded 10.08 seconds earlier this year. The 100-meter competition turned into a dramatic duel between Gurinderveer and Animesh Kujur over two days. Gurinderveer had lowered the national record for the first time to 10.17 seconds in the semi-finals on Friday, but Animesh regained it minutes later with a 10.15 second effort. However, Gurinderfer produced a faster performance in Saturday’s final, finishing comfortably ahead of Animesh and setting a historic national record.
The time also comfortably breached the Athletics Federation of India’s Commonwealth Games qualifying mark of 10.16 seconds. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s Vishal produced another historic performance in the men’s 400m final. The 22-year-old runner recorded a time of 44.98 seconds, becoming the first Indian athlete to complete the one-lap race in less than 45 seconds. Vishal had already attracted attention last year after breaking the national record with a time of 45.12 seconds in Chennai, but he raised the bar further on Saturday with a performance that now sits at the top of the Asia Seasonal Rankings. His time surpassed the previous Asian mark of 45.16 seconds held by Ammar Ismail Ibrahim and also helped him clear the AFI’s 2026 Commonwealth Games qualifying standard of 44.96 seconds. His compatriot Rajesh Ramesh, a Tamil Nadu runner, took second place with a time of 45.31 seconds, while Jai Kumar, an athlete from Uttar Pradesh, took third place with a time of 45.47 seconds. The historic day did not end there. Asian Games silver medalist Tejaswin Shankar added another milestone for Indian athletics when he became the country’s first athlete to cross the 8,000-point mark in the decathlon. Competing for the Reliance Foundation, Tejaswin collected 8,057 points across 10 events, surpassing his previous national record of 7,947 points set last year. The tally also lifted him to seventh place on the all-time Asian decathlon list.
