Sawan Barwal

Sawan Barwal
Personal information
Born (1998-02-18) 18 February 1998 (age 28)
Radabhanker, Himachal Pradesh, India
Military career
Branch
 Indian Army
Service years
2019–present
Rank
Havildar
UnitCorps of Engineers
Sport
SportAthletics
Event
Marathon
Achievements and titles
Personal bests2:11:37 NR (2026)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  India
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place2026 Aichi–NagoyaMarathon

Sawan Barwal (born 18 February 1998) is an Indian marathoner. He won the silver medal at the 2026 Asian Games. He broke Shivnath Singh's 48 year old Indian National marathon record.

Early life

Barwal is from Radabhanker village in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. He serves in the Indian Army as havildar in the Corps of Engineers. A long distance runner and half marathoner, he switched over to marathon following a suggestion from fellow Army personnel and mentor Mohammed Yunus Khan. For Asiad, he is training at the Reliance Foundation Centre, Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. He is coached by Ajit Markose. Earlier, he trained under Army coach Younis Khan at the Army Sports Institute in Pune.

Career

Barwal broke the Indian national record on 12 April 2026 at NN Marathon Rotterdam that was held in the name of Shivnath Singh for 48 years. He clocked 2 hours, 11 minutes and 58 seconds in the elite marathon race and broke the record of 2:12:00 set by Singh in 1978 at Jalandhar, Punjab. It was his debut marathon and he finished overall 20th. He fell down about 150 metres before the finish line but recovered to break the longest-standing Indian athletics record.

In 2024, he set the National half marathon record of 1:02 in Delhi. In April 2025, he won the gold in the 10,000 metre run with a meet record at the 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Championship at Kochi to qualify for Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea in May.

References

  1. ↑ "Sawan BARWAL | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  2. ↑ Ramesh, Akshay (26 September 2026). "Who is Sawan Barwal? Himachal man busts marathon misconception to win Asian Games silver". India Today.
  3. 1 2 3 PTI (13 April 2026). "Sawan Barwal breaks Shivnath Singh's 48-year-old marathon national record". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  4. 1 2 "How Sawan recovered from a collapse near finish line to break India's longest-standing national record". The Indian Express. 12 April 2026. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  5. 1 2 Selvaraj, Jonathan (12 April 2026). "Sawan Barwal breaks oldest National Record, betters Shivnath Singh's 48-year-old mark by two seconds in his debut marathon". Sportstar. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  6. 1 2 Roshan, Hrithik (12 April 2026). "Army runner Sawan Barwal conquers challenging conditions at Rotterdam Marathon, breaks national record « Athletics Federation of India". Athletics Federation of India. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  7. ↑ Today, Telangana (28 April 2026). "Next stop Asian Games, says national marathon record-holder Sawan Barwal". Telangana Today. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Sawan Barwal sets new Indian national record in marathon". The Times of India. 13 April 2026. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  9. ↑ Pitts, Andre (12 April 2026). "Sawan Barwal breaks Shivnath Singh's long-standing marathon national record on debut in Rotterdam". Olympics.com. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  10. ↑ Roshan, Hrithik (21 April 2025). "Army's distance runner Sawan Barwal won men's 10,000m gold, improves meet record « Athletics Federation of India". Athletics Federation of India. Retrieved 8 September 2026.