Bengaluru : Fresh off his record-breaking marathon in Rotterdam, Sawan Barwal set his sights on the upcoming Asian Games while speaking at the Beyond the Finish Line (BTFL) session held on Friday, a key engagement during the TCS World 10K Bengaluru race week. The annual platform once again brought together voices from across sport to explore what it truly takes to perform and build at the highest level.

On his focus for the season, Barwal said,
“It is a very important year for me with the Asian Games coming up and yes, at the moment I am looking at focusing on the full-distance marathon. We have sufficient time to prepare and I am far more confident after my debut marathon race in Rotterdam.”

Looking ahead to the longer cycle, he added,
“LA is much later, right now Asian Games is priority. Doing well here will set the momentum for 2028.”

The session featured Barwal alongside former Indian hockey captain and Olympian Viren Rasquinha, Head of Investments at Rainmatter Dilip Kumar, and co-founder of Sisters in Sweat Swetha Subbiah, with the discussion moderated by Sharda Ugra. Also in attendance was the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2026 International Event Ambassador, double Olympic medallist, Blanka Vlašić who shared insight on performance from her storied career.

Reflecting on his record-breaking run and the belief behind it, Barwal said,
“Probably the way we train now is far more scientific but more importantly, maybe no one believed that they could run faster than 2 hours and 12 minutes. Everything comes down to self-belief. When I was told by my coach in Army Sports Institute that I have great potential in marathon, I actually believed that I can take up this challenge and had always set that target of going under 2 hours and 12 minutes.”

Speaking about the role of exposure in his development, he added,
“Events like the TCS World 10K in India give us, especially youngsters coming up in distance running, the right kind of exposure. It’s a good opportunity to closely watch established runners from Kenya, Ethiopia among other countries and also interact with them. The way they pace their race is also a good learning for us.”

Viren Rasquinha reflected on competing at the highest level, recalling India’s campaign at the Athens Olympics. He said,
“I remember feeling extremely frustrated, not because we lost, but because I didn’t think the system had geared us well enough to handle pressure against the best teams in the world when it really mattered. At that level, the margins are so fine, and when your heart rate is at 200 and you have nothing left in the tank, that’s when you need to make the right decisions.”

Highlighting how support systems for athletes have evolved over time, he added,
“In my entire nine-year career for India, I never spoke to a nutritionist. I never spoke to a psychologist. We had no knowledge about nutrition, recovery, strength and conditioning. There were so many things that we could have done far better.”

Speaking about participation at the grassroots level and the barriers that often limit access to sport, Swetha Subbiah said,
“We realised it wasn’t that women hate sport, it’s just that there were too many barriers to participation. By creating a women-only, safe and inclusive space, we were able to bring more women into sport and give them a chance to claim that space.”

From an ecosystem perspective, highlighting the role of innovation and investment in driving participation, Dilip Kumar added,
“If India has to stay healthy and fit, we need a lot of entrepreneurs building solutions that help people move more and live better. Sport has to move from being something we watch to something we actively participate in.”

The event was hosted by Procam International, along with their Title Sponsor, Tata Consultancy Services; Associate Sponsor, IDFC FIRST Bank; Telecast Partner, Sony Sports Network; Hospitality Partner, ITC Hotels (ITC Windsor, Bengaluru); Empowerment Partner, GoSports Foundation and Initium, their Live Broadcast Partner.