Federation Cup 2026: As the celsius turns up, Deepak wins maiden national gold

Even in a race conducted early in the morning, conditions were hot and challenging during the men’s 10,000m at the Federation up in Ranchi. Of the 17 athletes who had registered for the race, only eight managed to cross the finish line at the Birsa Munda Stadium.

Only one athlete — Uttarakhand’s Deepak Bhatt — will likely have pleasant memories of the race. Not only did the 24-year-old win gold, his first national medal, he also did so with a new personal best of 29:42.93.

Indeed while others were slowing down, Deepak accelerated towards the end, chasing and eventually going past race leader Shivaji Madappa right at the finish line. Unfortunately for Madappa, this would be the least misfortune he would endure during the race. The 22-year-old had also looked set to register a personal best but started feeling the effects of dehydration towards the end and ended up collapsing on the finish line. He would later be disqualified after he was deemed to have run inside the designated running lane probably while being disoriented due to the condition.

Deepak felt some sympathy for his fellow competitor having himself failed to complete the 10,000m when he first ran that race in 2024. “The conditions were very hot today. It was about 30 degrees outside the track and it felt even hotter inside it when I was running at full pace. I also drank fluids twice in the race which helped me finish the race,” says Deepak.

Deepak says he felt inspired after watching Gulveer Singh train at the Army Sports Institute in Pune.
| Photo Credit:
RITU RAJ KONWAR

He says he was determined to make this opportunity count. “It was very important for me to win this medal. I have been competing in national competition for four years and I had not won any medal. But this year I had prepared really hard. So even though the conditions were difficult I didn’t want to give up,” he tells Sportstar.

Growing up in Sakdeena village in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district, Deepak says he didn’t think he was going to be an athlete. None of his family had ever had much idea of sport — Deepak’s father still drives a tourist taxi in Nainital town. Although he often ran in the hills of his village located at an altitude of some 1800m above sea level, the goal had been to join the Indian Army.

That he did in 2020 when he joined the 20th battalion of the Kumaon regiment. It was in the army during his physical training as a recruit that Deepak says he first realised he had a talent for running. “I used to do cross country running at that time and because I was a strong runner I was sent to the regiment headquarters to focus on my running,” he says.

In 2022, he caught the eye of Subedar Younis Khan, currently the chief coach of the Army track program. “I saw that he was from the hills so he naturally had a lot of stamina and he was also tall and strong which was an advantage for distance running. I told him he could go far as a runner and was able to bring him to the Army Sports Institute in Pune,” says Khan.

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Although he made his competitive debut at the 2023 Cross Country nationals, it’s taken Deepak some time to find his place at the national level. He finished 11th in the 5000m at the 2024 Federation Cup, 8th over that same distance at the 2024 Open Nationals and 17th at last year’s Federation Cup.

Throughout it all he says he’s never lost belief. “I’m not a professional runner. I didn’t have a lot of experience when I started running in competitive races. I was also slowly building up my training. But when I was training alongside athletes like (5000m and 10000m national record holder) Gulveer Singh at ASI Pune, I was always being inspired. This year I felt that my training had been very good and that gave me the confidence before the Federation Cup,” he says.

Although his time wasn’t fast enough to meet the AFI’s qualification standard for the Commonwealth Games, Deepak says his result has given him the self belief to push himself even further. “My goal is to one day qualify for the Asian Games. I know I will get faster and I think that conditions will be better for me also,” he says.

Published on May 22, 2026