World Athletics Championships: Gulveer Singh fails to make history, Annu Rani bows out in qualifying round

Tokyo [Japan], September 19 (ANI): Asian champion Gulveer Singh missed a historic men’s 5000m final spot by a whisker, bowing out by a mere 0.19 seconds. Meanwhile, Annu Rani crashed out in the women’s javelin throw qualifiers at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo on Friday.

Gulveer clocked 13:42.34s to finish ninth while running in Heat 2 of the 5000m, marginally behind Norway’s two-time Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who sprinted to the final qualifying spot, notching 13:42.15s.

For most of the race, Gulveer stayed in contention for taking a spot in the final. After 1000m, he firmly held the third spot and moved to second at 2900m, just 0.10 seconds adrift of leader Grant Fisher of the US.

However, in the final lap, a fading final lap dash conspired against Gulveer and led to his downfall. He was on the cusp of becoming the first Indian to storm into the 5000m final at the World Championships.

“My training in the USA was good, but because of this weather, my body hasn’t responded well here. In the last kilometre, I was left short. This was my first championships and I have learned a lot from all the big athletes here. Next time, I believe I will do better than this. Now I will focus on the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games,” Gulveer said as quoted from the Olympics.com.

In February, Gulveer ran 12:59.77s at the Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge and broke the Asian short track and Indian national records. At the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Gumi, Gulveer struck gold with a meet record of 13:24.77s. He ended 16th in the 10000m final with 29:13.33s earlier in Tokyo.

In the women’s javelin throw, two-time Olympian and Asian Games gold medallist Annu Rani finished 15th in Group A and 29th overall with a best attempt of 55.18m. Rani was far away from her personal best of 63.82m throughout the qualifiers. She opened her account with 54.54m, improved to 55.18m on her second throw, and signed off with 55.10m. (ANI)

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