World Athletics Championships: Gulveer Singh falls 0.19s short of history; Annu Rani exits javelin qualifiers

Indian athlete Gulveer Singh narrowly missed qualifying for the men's 5000m final at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, falling short by 0.19 seconds. Fellow Indian athlete Annu Rani was eliminated in the women's javelin throw qualifiers.Gulveer finished ninth in Heat 2 with a time of 13:42.34s. Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, a two-time Olympic champion, secured the final qualifying spot with 13:42.15s.Gulveer maintained a strong position throughout most of the race. He held third place after 1000m and advanced to second at 2900m, trailing US leader Grant Fisher by just 0.10 seconds.His performance declined in the final lap, preventing him from becoming the first Indian to reach 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 achieved significant success earlier this year. He set Asian short track and Indian national records with a time of 12:59.77s at the Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge in February.He won gold at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Gumi with a meet record of 13:24.77s. Earlier in Tokyo, he finished 16th in the 10000m final, clocking 29:13.33s.In the women's javelin throw competition, Annu Rani, a two-time Olympian and Asian Games gold medallist, ranked 15th in Group A and 29th overall.Rani's best throw measured 55.18m, well below her personal best of 63.82m. Her series began with 54.54m, followed by 55.18m, and concluded with 55.10m.