Gurindervir Singh Is India's Fastest Man. But How Far Is He From Usain Bolt?
Usain Bolt holds the world record of the 100-meter sprint, completing the race in 9.58 seconds.
25-year-old sprinter from Punjab, Gurindervir Singh, entered the record books during the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition 2026 in Ranchi on Saturday. The sprinter, representing Reliance, clocked 10.09 seconds to reclaim his men's 100m crown. He first shattered Animesh Kujur's previous national mark of 10.18s by clocking 10.17s in the opening semifinal heat before becoming the first Indian man to clock sub-10.10 seconds in the men's 100m final, storming to victory. But, how far is Gurvinder from the world record held by the legendary Usain Bolt?
Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, clocked a whopping 9.58 seconds at the 100-meter sprint event on August 16, 2009, at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany. Gurindervir is still about half a second (0.51 seconds) away from matching Bolt's record.
The mobile phone of sprinter Gurindervir Singh's father has not stopped ringing since his son shattered the 100m national record at the Federation Cup in Ranchi. He also breached the 2026 Commonwealth Games qualifying time of 10.16 seconds set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Interestingly, people have now started calling Gurindervir as 'Toofan Singh' after his exploits in Ranchi, his father Kamaljit said. "We are immensely happy over our son's achievement," said Kamaljit Singh at his residence at Patiala village in Bhogpur in Jalandhar.
Kamaljit, a former volleyball player and a retired Punjab police official, said his son did a lot of hard work and never thought about anything else to reach this level. "My son always concentrated on his game only," he said.
Kamaljit said he himself used to take Gurindervir along for running when he was young. When Gurindervir showed keen interest in becoming an athlete, the family took him to coach Sarwan Singh, who retired from CRPF, in Bhogpur in Jalandhar.
The coach told Kamaljit that his son would become India's number one athlete in future, said Kamaljit.
"I wanted my son to do what I could not do," he said. Gurundervir's mother Rupinder Kaur said the entire family was ecstatic over the achievement of her son.
"He created history," she said. Gurindervir's coach Sarabjit Singh said it is a matter of happiness that his ward broke the national record and breached CWG qualifying mark by clocking 10.09 seconds.
With PTI Inputs