| Gurmeet Singh | |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Sport: | Track and field |
| Event: | 20 kilometres race walk |
| Birth Date: | 1985 7, df=yes[1] |
| Birth Place: | Uttarakhand, India |
Gurmeet Singh (born 1 July 1985 in Uttarakhand, India) is an Indian athlete who competes in the 20 kilometres race walk event. He is a current Indian record holder in the 20 km race walk, which he set in the Indian Grand Prix I in Patiala in May 2011.[2] Gurmeet is sponsored by the Mittal Champions Trust, an initiative run by steel magnate Lakshmi N. Mittal.[3] He is one of the three Indian athletes who qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in 20 km race walk event with an 'A' qualification standard (1:22:30).[4] He achieved this berth in the 18th Dublin International Grand Prix in Ireland after finishing sixth with a time of 1:22:05.[5]
In the event he clocked a time of 1:23:34 and finished 33rd.[6]
Singh was born in a small village in Uttarakhand state. He considers his cousin Surjit Singh, who also is a discus thrower, his inspiration for choosing athletics. He won a silver in the national junior championships in 2000. He finished fifth in the 2001 Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Brunei.[7]
His career turned around in late 2010, when he started training at Sports Authority of India, Bangalore centre under the coach Ramakrishnan Gandhi. In March 2012, he walked a time of 1:21:31 at the Asian Championships in Nomi, Japan.[8] He clinched a gold medal in the Asian 20 km race walk championship finishing 1 hour 20 minutes and 29 seconds in Mar 2016. This is the first time such record in 34 years that an Indian won a gold in either an Asian championship or Asian Games event.
Singh is married to Deepmala Devi, also a 20 km walker.[8]