Inter-State athletics: Long-distance quartet brave Bhubaneswar heat to meet Asian Games qualification mark
The gruelling men’s 10,000m race saw the top-four finishers complete their races within the AFI qualifying cut of 29 minutes, 30 seconds for the Hangzhou Asian Games, slated for September.
10,000 m winner Kartik Kumar. (pic: Andrew Amsan) Even though the long-distance races began as early as six in the morning, conditions were not pleasant for the runners in the hot and humid weather of Bhubaneswar.
The gruelling men’s 10,000m race saw the top-four finishers complete their races within the AFI qualifying cut of 29 minutes, 30 seconds for the Hangzhou Asian Games, slated for September. Army partners Kartik Kumar (29:01.84s) and Gulveer Singh (29:03.78) led the pack as they did not let the heat deter them from putting on a promising display at the Kalinga stadium on Thursday.
Interestingly, both runners train under coach Surendra Singh, who still holds the 10,000m national record of 28:02.89s that has not been disturbed for almost 15 years. At the post-race press meet, Kartik said he wanted to go after “coach saab’s” record. “Now I just want to break his record and bag an Asian Games medal,” he said.
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