Asian Athletics Championships 2025: Gulveer Singh wins gold in the men’s 10,000m, third Indian to achieve this feat

India got off to a stellar start to their campaign at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Bangkok on Tuesday with national record holder Gulveer Singh taking the lead by winning the country's first gold medal in the men's 10,000m event. Earlier in the day, Servin Sebastian opened India's medal account by winning bronze in the men's 20km walk.

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Gulveer brings third gold for the country

Gulveer, the 26-year-old 2023 Asian Games bronze medallist, produced a composed performance to top the 10,000m. He won the gold medal in a race that lasted the last few laps, clocking 28 minutes 38.63 seconds. 

Though his time was well short of the national record of 27:00.22 he set earlier this year, the win marked a major achievement for Indian long-distance running on the continental stage.

This is India's third gold in the men's 10,000m race at the Asian Athletics Championships, after Hari Chand (1975) and Govindan Lakshmanan (2017).

Suzuki of Japan got silver

Mebuki Suzuki of Japan won the silver medal with a time of 28:43.84, while Albert Kibichi Rop of Bahrain won the bronze medal with a time of 28:46.82. With a brilliant acceleration in the final 800m, Gulveer overtook Suzuki and Rop.

Sebastian gave a tough fight

On the other hand, Sebastian gave a tough fight in the fiercely contested men's 20km walk and won India's first medal (bronze) in the event in his personal best timing of 1 hour 21 minutes and 13.60 seconds. His earlier best timing (1:21:23) came when he won the gold medal at the Uttarakhand National Games in February this year.

Wang Zhaozhao of China won the gold medal with a time of 1:20:36.90, while Kento Yoshikawa of Japan won the silver medal with a time of 1:20:44.90. Sebastian stayed in the leading group for most of the race and managed to hold off a late challenge from the chasing group to finish on the podium. 

Amit Khatri, the other Indian in the event, finished fifth with a time of 1:22:14.30, out of medal contention but still a solid performance.

Annu Rani disappointed in women's javelin throw

Meanwhile, Asian Games gold medallist Annu Rani disappointed in the women's javelin throw final and finished fourth out of twelve athletes. Annu's best throw was 58.30 metres, falling short of a podium finish by 64 centimetres. Annu's performance was well below her personal best and national record of 63.82m.

Su Lingdan of China won the gold medal with a personal best performance of 63.29 metres, while Momone Ueda of Japan won the silver with a throw of 59.39 metres. Japan's Sae Takemoto won the bronze with 58.94m. 

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India sent a 58-member team

India has sent a 58-member contingent to the Asian Athletics Championships this year, aiming to add to its haul of 27 medals won in the last edition. Gulveer and Sebastian put up a stellar performance on day one, which has now raised expectations as the rest of the Indian team will look to add to the medal tally in the days to come.

The championship will continue till Saturday, with India eyeing strong performances across all categories in track, field and mixed relay events.