The sleeping giant of Indian athletics has been awakened: the hunt for Olympic medals begins
India’s distance running was the lifeline of India’s athletics campaign at the 2026 Asian Games. Gulveer Singh led the way with three medals in five days, winning silver in the 10,000m and 1,500m and bronze in the 5,000m. Sawan Barwal added silver in the men’s marathon in a national record 2:11:37, ending India’s 44-year wait for a medal from Asian Games, while Seema Kumari won bronze in the women’s 10,000 m.
Performances ranged from the explosive demands of 1,500m to the endurance required to run 42,195km. And yet they are tied to one essential factor. One essential person.
Scott Simmons, India’s long-distance running coach, trained all three athletes in the same high-altitude environment in Colorado Springs, United States.
For Simmons, the results in Nagoya confirm a private observation he made years ago. When he first arrived in Bengaluru in early 2022, he looked at Indian distance running and thought, “This is a sleeping giant” that needed to be addressed.
Speaking to Sports Authority of India, Simmons said he recognized the talent was there, but distance runners needed time, support and consistency to achieve the desired results.
Four years later, the results are beginning to show what can happen when these ingredients come together.
WHAT LEADED TO THE MAKING OF ELITE DISTANCE RUNNERS
“We just needed time and support from the Government of India, from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and other stakeholders to give these athletes the opportunity to do the right training, give them time to develop and continue to be consistent,” Simmons said.
The change was gradual. With support through the ACTC programme, an annual calendar of training and competitions sponsored by the Union Sports Ministry, the Athletics Federation of India has encouraged expanded overseas training for athletes like Gulveer. Before the Asian Games, Gulveer spent six months continuously in the United States, training at a high-altitude base in Colorado Springs.
This extended stint meant he could train consistently, rather than repeatedly preparing for individual competitions. This also allowed him to train and compete alongside athletes operating at a high international level.
Simmons believes that continuity is essential for distance runners.
“I think there’s been no consistency in the past. It’s always been a late rush to get fit for the Asian Championships and the Asian Games, whereas specifically in distance running, it’s like building a house. You’re always building a house. And if you’re not building a house, you’re tearing the house down,” Simmons said.
“And Gulveer did such a good job of going one step at a time.
The idea of continuing to build, rather than repeatedly starting over, is at the heart of what has happened to Indian distance runners. Nagoya provided the most compelling evidence yet.
GULVEER PERFORMS AT ASIAN GAMES
Gulveer’s Asian Games campaign was extraordinary even according to the standards he set this year. He competed four times in five days and returned with three medals.
However, the plan was never built on three events.
Simmons and Gulveer prepared primarily for the 10,000 m, which they considered to be his strongest event. Training for this race also gave him the foundation to compete in the 5,000m and eventually the 1,500m.
“The plan turned out to be very successful,” Simmons said. “Obviously we prepared 100 per cent for the 10,000m. And Gulveer gave his best challenge and finished with silver. We thought it was his best event, but it also prepared him for the 1,500m as a by-product.”
Gulveer eventually won silver in the 10,000m and 1,500m and bronze in the 5,000m.
It marked a significant step up from his bronze in the 10,000m at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. It also followed his two-medal campaign at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where he won silver in the 10,000m and bronze in the 5,000m.
A MARATHON MEDAL THAT NO ONE EXPECTED
If Gulveer’s three medals showed the consistency he can produce on the track, Sawan Barwal’s marathon silver showed what the same approach can begin to produce over the longest distances.
Barwal ran 2:11:37 in Nagoya, bettering his own national record and silver gain. His medal ended India’s 44-year wait for a podium finish in the Asian Games marathon.
The performance was all the more significant because Barwal is still relatively new to the marathon.
Simmons said his development has been carefully structured, with the Indian runner benefiting from training alongside established marathoners in Colorado Springs.
“He was able to train with athletes at this level,” Simmons said.
Barwal’s result was also in contrast to Kartik Karkera’s performance at the same event. Karkera finished 17th, well off his personal best.
Karkera was sent to Kenya for high altitude training but was asked to return to India to prove his fitness and cut his training period by two weeks.
THE BENEFIT STARTS TO SPREAD
The results were not limited to Gulveer and Barwal. Seema Kumari won bronze in women’s 10,000 mgiving India its first Asian Games medal since 2010.
Her performance added another dimension to the story Simmons is trying to tell about Indian distance running.
The purpose of a training group is not simply to produce one successful athlete. It’s about creating an environment where athletes can learn from each other, compete against each other and gradually raise the level of the whole group.
“When we all pull together and train together, then everyone gets better and everyone can get to the next level. And we saw that, of course, in the performance of the Indians here in Nagoya,” Simmons said.
This is perhaps why the results in Nagoya are particularly significant. Three Indian distance runners, competing in different disciplines and at different distances, reached the podium.
GOAL OF OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION
The next question is whether this progress can take India beyond the Asian Games. Simmons believes he can.
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are still two years away and the qualification standards are getting tougher. But Simmons believes the athletes training in Colorado Springs now believe Olympic qualification is within reach.
“They believe they can qualify, and qualifying is harder than it’s ever been,” Simmons said. “But again, they’re in a training group with others who are also focusing on it.
Simmons also believes that India should already think beyond the current group. He now wants to bring two to four younger Indian athletes into the distance program, saying it may take two to four years for them to reach the level of the current group.
For Simmons, progress in Nagoya is therefore not the end point. It’s a testament to what can happen when Indian runners are given the time, consistency and training environment needed to build properly.
The sleeping giant he saw in Bengaluru in 2022 has finally started to move. And with Los Angeles 2028 on the horizon, the next leg of that journey has already begun.
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