Wetzlar: Animesh Kujur, who holds the national record in the 200m, has emerged as one of India’s leading sprinters after finishing second in the men’s 100m final at the PUMA Fast Arms Fast Legs 2026 meet, recording a personal best of 10.14 seconds on Saturday.
This impressive performance is not only the fastest 100m ever achieved by an Indian athlete outside of India, but it also ranks as the second-fastest overall for the nation, trailing only Gurindervir Singh’s leading time of 10.09 seconds. Earlier in the day, Animesh had demonstrated his speed by winning his heat with a time of 10.19 seconds. He improved his performance in the final, surpassing his previous personal record of 10.15 seconds by one hundredth of a second, continuing a season marked by steady time reductions.
As the current national record holder for the men’s 200m, Animesh has established himself among India’s elite in the 100m category as well. He now holds three of the five fastest 100m times by an Indian, with the all-time rankings as follows: Gurindervir Singh (10.09s), Animesh Kujur (10.14s), Animesh Kujur (10.15s), Gurindervir Singh (10.17s), and Animesh Kujur (10.18s). His advancements in the shorter sprint come after he qualified for the Asian Games 200m event at the Inter-State National Athletics Championships in June, where he clocked 20.74 seconds, well below the Athletics Federation of India’s qualifying standard of 20.88 seconds.
Despite easily meeting the qualification criteria, Animesh expressed disappointment with his timing, stating that securing qualification was his primary 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 remarked after his race. His best time in the 200m remains the national record of 20.32 seconds.
The Inter-State Championships followed India’s bronze medal victory in the mixed 4x100m relay at the Asian Relay Championships, where Animesh played a crucial role. His coach, Martin Owens, noted that due to a demanding travel schedule, the emphasis had been on securing qualification rather than pursuing fast times. While Animesh has often indicated that the 200m is his favored event, he has shown significant improvement in the 100m over the past year. Since breaking the national 200m record in May 2025, he has only dipped below 20.50 seconds once. In the 100m, he has twice set the Indian record before Gurindervir Singh reclaimed it with a national-best time of 10.09 seconds. His latest run of 10.14 seconds underscores his rising status as one of India’s premier sprinting talents ahead of the Asian Games.
