India’s national 200m record holder Animesh Kujur finished second in the men’s 100-meter final at the PUMA Fast Arms Fast Legs 2026 tournament on Saturday with a personal best time of 10.14 seconds, continuing his quick ascent to prominence as one of the nation’s top sprinters.
Only Gurindervir Singh’s national-leading time of 10.09 seconds is faster than the Chhattisgarh athlete’s achievement, which is now the fastest 100 meters ever recorded by an Indian athlete on foreign soil.
Earlier in the day, Animesh won his heat in 10.19 seconds, demonstrating his form. In the final, he made progress, cutting his prior personal best of 10.15 seconds by a hundredth of a second. He has continuously lowered his timings this season.
Animesh Kujur Creates Historic Record
Animesh is already the men’s 200-meter national record holder and one of India’s fastest 100-meter runners. Gurindervir Singh (10.09s), Animesh Kujur (10.14s), Animesh Kujur (10.15s), Gurindervir Singh (10.17s), and Animesh Kujur (10.18s) currently hold three of the five fastest 100-meter times by an Indian.
After qualifying for the Asian Games 200 meters at the Inter-State National Athletics Championships in June, he made progress in the shorter sprint. His time of 20.74 seconds was well below the 20.88-second qualifying mark set by the Athletics Federation of India.
Animesh acknowledged that he was unhappy with the timing even though he comfortably met the qualifying mark, stating that qualification was his sole objective.
“Honestly, I was not here for timing. The idea was to secure the qualification mark for the Asian Games. Since I have got it now, I will focus on improving before the Asian Games,” he said after the race.
His 200-meter personal best of 20.32 seconds continues to hold the national record.
Animesh Among India’s Top Sprinters
Animesh played an important role in India’s bronze medal win in the mixed 4×100-meter relay at the Asian Relay Championships, which was followed by the Inter-State Championships. Martin Owens, his coach, disclosed that the emphasis had shifted from chasing a fast time to qualifying following a difficult travel schedule. Animesh has frequently stated that the 200m is his favourite event, but the 100m has seen many of his greatest advancements in the last year. He has just once fallen below 20.50 seconds since he broke the national 200-meter mark in May 2025.
Before Gurindervir Singh recaptured the in the 100 meters with a national-best time of 10.09 seconds, he had twice lowered it. Before the , his most recent 10.14-second run demonstrated his increasing prominence as one of India’s best sprinting athletes.