Young Indian sprinter Animesh Kujur has continued his impressive form by achieving a new milestone in the 100 meters race.
The athlete from Odisha clocked an outstanding time of 10.14 seconds in the men’s 100 meters final at the Puma Fast Arms Fast Legs 2026 meet held on Saturday.
Animesh has become the fastest Indian athlete to complete the 100 meters race on foreign soil. He is now the second fastest Indian in the 100 meters category, following Gurinderveer Singh, who holds the national record with a time of 10.09 seconds.
Animesh kicked off the competition with a strong performance, winning his heat earlier in the day with a time of 10.19 seconds, securing his place in the finals. He then improved his performance in the final, breaking his previous personal best of 10.15 seconds to finish in 10.14 seconds.
With this achievement, Animesh has joined the ranks of India’s fastest sprinters. His three performances are now listed among the fastest 100 meters times for India, following Gurinderveer Singh’s record. Animesh’s times of 10.14 seconds, 10.15 seconds, and 10.18 seconds are now part of this elite list.
Animesh’s success in the 100 meters is a result of his continuous improvement. He qualified for the 200 meters event at the Asian Games during the Inter-State National Athletics Championship in June, completing the race in 20.74 seconds, which surpassed the Athletics Federation of India’s qualifying standard of 20.88 seconds.
Despite easily achieving the qualifying mark, Animesh expressed that he was not satisfied with his timing. He stated, “To be honest, I wasn’t here for the timing. My goal was to achieve the qualification mark for the Asian Games. Now that I have accomplished that, I will focus on improving before the Asian Games.”
Animesh’s personal best in the 200 meters is 20.32 seconds, which is also the Indian national record. Recently, he has consistently performed well in the 100 meters, having broken the Indian record twice. However, Gurinderveer Singh later set a new national record with a time of 10.09 seconds.
Animesh’s coach, Martin Owens, mentioned that the team’s main goal was to achieve qualification rather than just focusing on fast times after a busy travel schedule. Although Animesh’s favorite event is the 200 meters, his recent performances in the 100 meters have shown significant improvement. His 10.14 seconds run indicates that he has become one of India’s top sprinting hopes ahead of the Asian Games.