CWG 2026: Why India’s fastest man Gurindervir Singh crashed despite finishing 2nd in his heat

Gurindervir Singh (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary) NEW DELHI: India’s fastest man Gurindervir Singh entered the Commonwealth Games carrying the weight of expectation after breaking the national record earlier this year. Instead, his campaign came to an abrupt end in the men’s 100m heats, with a hamstring injury the main reason for his disappointment.The 25-year-old clocked 10.39 seconds to place second in his heat, but the time was not enough to secure a place in the semi-finals. Only the fastest 17 athletes in all 11 heats advanced, leaving Gurindervir 28th overall out of 73 competitors. A time of 10.24 seconds would be enough to progress.After the race, coach James Hillier revealed that the Indian sprinter had been dealing with a hamstring injury for the past month, which the team had deliberately kept under wraps.“Everyone looks at the timing and says why he couldn’t do his best. He had a hamstring injury for the last month, we kept quiet. Where he is now, he can do the first 60 meters very well,” Hillier said, as quoted by Nnis Sports.The injury explained the contrast between Gurindervir’s recent form and his performance in Glasgow. In May, he became the first Indian to break the 10.10 seconds mark when he clocked a national record of 10.09 seconds at the Federation Cup in Ranchi. The run obliterated the previous mark of 10.15 seconds set by Animesh Kujur just a day earlier and established Gurindervir as one of India’s brightest medal hopes heading into the Games.However, his early exit caused a setback to India’s sprinting ambitions.