Portland Track Festival 2024 athletics: Gulveer Singh takes over 5000m national record from Avinash Sable
The Asian Games medallist crossed the finish line in 13:18.92 to finish second at the US meet. Parvej Khan became the second-fastest Indian in 1500m.
Athletics
India’s Gulveer Singh set a national record in the men’s 5000m event at the Portland Track Festival 2024 athletics meet held at the Mount Hood Community College in the United States of America on Monday.
A bronze medallist at the Asian Games last year in the 10,000m event, Gulveer Singh clocked 13:18.92 to finish second in the men’s elite 5000m race. USA’s Dylan Jacobs (13:18.18) topped the elite race while Kenya’s Wesley Kiptoo (13:21.77) came third.
Gulveer also holds India’s men’s 10,000m national mark.
India’s previous national record in the 5000m was 13:19.30 set by Avinash Sable at the Sound Running On Track Fest in Los Angeles last year.
Sable, who won silver at the Asian Games last year in the 5000m event, competed at the Portland Track Festival on Monday but did not finish (DNF) the race. Kartik Kumar came 17th in 13:41.07 and was last among the athletes who crossed the finish line.
Abhishek Pal, competing in the men’s 5000m invitational event, logged 13:41.57 for third place in the final. Great Britain’s Tom Anderson (13:37.89) and Eli Bennett (13:41.26) clinched the top two spots.
Indian athletes are yet to breach the Paris 2024 Olympic entry standard of 13:05.00 for the men’s 5000m event.
In the women’s 5000m elite race, 2023 Asian Championships bronze medallist Ankita Dhyani completed her run in 15:35.06 for 15th place. Olympic champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands claimed the top spot in 14:43.85 and was followed by runners Elise Cranny (14:46.49) and Karissa Schweizer (14:48.60) of the USA.
Sanjivani Jadhav, competing in the women’s 5000m invitational race, came second in 15:31.60. USA’s Claire Green (15:30.46) claimed the top spot while the People’s Republic of China’s Xiu Zhen Ma (15:31.86) came third.
Meanwhile, Parvej Khan clocked the second-best time by an Indian in the men’s 1500m after finishing eighth with a new personal best of 3:36.21.
India’s 1500m national record stands at 3:35.24 achieved by Jinson Johnson in 2019.
In the men's 1500m high-performance race, Rahul Harveer Singh came 17th in 3:39.43 while Shashi Bhushan Singh did not finish.
Last month, Parvej Khan won the men’s 1500m title in 3:42.73 at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships 2024, a major collegiate athletics event, in Louisiana.
India’s KM Deeksha competed in the women’s 1500m and came 17th in 4:13.49.
On Sunday, Sable clocked 8:21.85 to finish second in what was his first 3000m steeplechase race of the 2024 athletics season. India’s Sanjivani Jadhav won the women’s 10,000m event while Parul Chaudhary finished third in the women’s 3000m steeplechase race.