Overcoming mental trauma from facing taunts over his appearance in his childhood to becoming India’s fastest sprinter, the journey of Punjab athlete Gurindervir Singh has been one of perseverance. Gurindervir recently broke the 100m national record with a run of 10.09 seconds.”The mental trauma is something I did face in my childhood. It just came back and I cried, was not able to hold it in. However, my coach helped me. I had to undergo some psychology sessions with experts. The incident happened last year, but now I am back,” said Gurindervir, who used to admire Yohan Blake in his childhood, and dreamt of having the same physique as he grew up.”Over the years, I have made myself strong, not only in terms of on-field performances, but improving my mental strength as well. Now, I feel like being a mature person and able to handle the pressure,” added the sprinter.However, his passion for making it big in athletics got a major push after he joined Reliance Foundation. “When he first joined, around 18 months ago, I wasn’t happy with the way he was running,” said Reliance Foundation’s Athletics Director James Hillier.”He had good reactive qualities, but his tendons needed improvement. He was muscling his way on the track, but the acceleration was not helping him towards the end. We worked a lot to unlock his tendons and managed his muscles as he was carrying much weight and was probably strong as an ox. However, the power was ineffective. We worked on improving quality and it was a gradual process, as biomechanical adjustments were needed,” he added.Gurindervir said that “the work is still in progress”. “We worked step-by-step, we improved the first 30m, then 60m, then the finish. I am learning how to take care of diet, dynamics, muscle after coming here. I am not boasting or announcing some new timing or announcing any plans, but I just want to improve and work hard with each passing day,” he said.