Gurmeet Singh Profile: Men’s 20km walk

Gurmeet Singh clinched a gold medal in the Asian 20 km race walk championship finishing 1 hour 20 minutes and 29 seconds in March 2016. (Source: PTI)

Gurmeet Singh is popularly known as the “Mountain Man”. Well, one of the reasons for this name may be because he hails from Uttarakhand. But very few know about his resilient performances in some of the Asian Games championships. He has made quite a name for himself in the 20 km race walk category and is currently training under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Bangalore. He started his career as early as 2000 when he won the National Junior Championships.

His cousin brother, Sukhbir Singh, has also inspired to take his junior level performances to higher levels. Sukhbir was a discuss thrower. Gurmeet then went on to win one silver medal and two bronze medals at Asian Championships between 2012 and 2014. He also holds the National record in the 20 km walk race event after he clocked 1:20:22.52 in Bhubaneshwar, back in 2012. He also created history by becoming the first Indian athlete in 34 years to win a gold medal at the Asian Championships.

Record – He is the current Indian record holder in the 20 km race walk, which he set in the Indian Grand Prix in Patiala in May 2011

Event- 20 km walk (men’s)

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Qualifying Event – Gurmeet qualified after winning Asian 20km Race Walk Championship

Event Date – August 12

Career Highlights – Gold medal in the Asian 20km walk event