Gurindervir Singh thanks Indian fans ahead of Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 100m
Gurindervir Singh thanked Indian supporters and groups such as the Bharat Army for their backing as he prepared to contest the men’s 100m at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan, with his first-round heat set for September 24 at 4:38 PM IST. Speaking on the Bharat Army Champions Unfiltered podcast ahead of the Games, he said the presence of Indian fans provides motivation rather than pressure.
Singh arrives in Aichi-Nagoya on the back of a season that has rewritten Indian sprinting marks: he clocked a national record of 10.09 seconds in Ranchi in May, becoming the first Indian man to officially break the 10.10-second barrier, and he also set the men’s 60m indoor national record with 6.60 seconds at the 1st National Indoor Athletics Championships 2026 in Bhubaneswar, breaking an eight-year-old mark. His rise from school competitions in Patiala to national record-holder frames his entry into the continental event.
On the podcast, Singh described how crowd support affects his performance, saying: "It doesn’t increase the pressure, it provides motivation," and adding that "Having your own crowd there is very important. You can see it now, people are actually coming to watch because, in athletics, that wasn’t really the case before. Now that people have started coming to watch, it feels really good. Knowing that people are coming to see us makes me want to run even harder. It makes me want to give it my all. If 100% is the standard, I want to push to 110%." The Bharat Army, which has built a global community of Indian sports fans and followed Indian athletes across major events, will be among those supporting him in Japan.
Singh is scheduled to begin his Asian Games campaign in the men’s 100m first round on September 24 at 4:38 PM IST; if he advances, the semi-finals and final are scheduled for September 25. The article notes he will face several of Asia’s leading sprinters in Aichi-Nagoya as he seeks to progress through the rounds.
He recounted early influences and personal routines that shaped his development, saying his father played volleyball and his grandfather was a kabaddi player, and that as a child he would polish his father’s medals and trophies during Diwali. Singh recalled a childhood exchange with his mother—"You won’t let me watch TV now, but one day you’ll be looking for me on TV"—and described a habit of visualising performances, including telling his coach minutes before a race, "Today, I’m going to run a 10.2." He also recalled a national-level prediction: when his coach asked what the winning time at the Nationals would be, he replied, "You’re indirectly asking what time I’ll run," predicted 10.4 seconds and went on to run exactly that. "I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes," he told Bharat Army.
Singh said there is a deeper motivation tied to his family: "So, deep down, I’ve always felt I should fulfill the dream he left unfinished and play the game even better," referring to his father, and added, "So, it’s for me, for my country and for my father." That personal drive accompanies the external support he highlighted from Indian fans.
He starts his men’s 100m campaign on September 24 at 4:38 PM IST, with the semi-finals and final scheduled for September 25 if he progresses, and a successful campaign could present the possibility of adding an Asian Games medal to a season that has already seen him set national records.