Gurindervir Singh became the fastest Indian across 100 metres on Friday.
Credit: DH PHOTO/ PUSHKAR V
Bengaluru: Limited was the fabric of Gurindervir Singh’s formative years as a sprinter. Limited resources, limited knowledge, limited monetary backing - all of which put a limit on the sporting dreams he would aspire.
Though these factors weren’t really of his making, it was a reality the youngster had to grapple with. Given that there was only so much in his village Patial, near Jalandhar, the athlete was forced to make do with limited amenities. However, the finite everything in the 24-year-old’s life changed for the better once he shifted base to Mumbai last year to train at the Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre under coach James Hillier.
Now, the result is for everyone to see. Gurindervir erased the previous national record of 10.23 seconds set by his academy-mate Manikanta Hoblidhar in the men’s 100m by clocking 10.20 at the SAI Centre here on Friday.
“For my diet, the Punjab government provided Rs 160 per day. And now it is Rs 2000 a day,” the runner began explaining when asked about the difference between training in a professionally run set-up and training in a smaller city.
“My coach back in Jalandhar (Sarabjit Happy Singh) did his best to give whatever he could. We did not have access to cold showers, physiotherapy, masseurs, nutritionists or psychologists. We couldn’t push ourselves completely during training because there would always be a fear of getting injured and spoiling my career. But now, as you can see, everything has come together for me to produce the results I’m capable of.”
The toughest part for Gurindervir was to get acclamitised to a programme and facility that was of higher quality and took time to adjust and trust the new coach with fresh ideas and training methods. But once the coach-student bond strengthened, Gurindervir’s low self-esteem received the missing boost.
The athlete, who made waves as a junior, had made a mark on the Indian senior athletics circuit with his 10.27 run in 2021 as a 21-year-old under coach Sarabjit. However, an issue in the mucous membrane of his large intestine stalled Gurindervir’s progress.
“Constantly eating outside food affected my stomach. Food wasn’t getting digested. I stopped training for a year. After consulting several doctors, I slowly recovered. Now the nutritionist at the academy takes care of my diet.
“I’m glad to have made so much progress in less than 6-7 months under coach Hillier. Even when there were negative talks about me, he always believed in me. This win with a record has given me so much confidence...”
While the 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Championships in April is his next big meet, Gurindervir’s fastest Indian male 100m time was enough to earn him a ticket for the 26th Asian Athletics Championships (AAC) to be held in Gumi, South Korea between May 27-31.
With life taking a positive turn, Gurindervir has now set his eyes on clocking 10.10 second range and podium finishes at international competitions. His dreams are now without boundaries. But the one simple one among the many, he said, was for his mother to watch him run on the television.