Indian sprinting entered uncharted territory at the Federation Cup in Ranchi on Friday after two national records were broken within minutes during the men's 100m semifinals at the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium.
Punjab's Gurindervir Singh was the first to light up the track, clocking 10.17 seconds to edge past Animesh Kujur's previous national mark of 10.18s. The record, however, lasted only briefly.
Minutes later, Kujur stormed through his semifinal in 10.15 seconds to reclaim the national record and secure automatic qualification for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after crossing the Athletics Federation of India's qualifying standard of 10.16s.
The performance at Ranchi, further strengthened the 22-year-olds growing reputation as the face of a new era in Indian sprinting.
Kujur was born on June 2, 2003, in Ghuitangar village in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district.
Sprinting was not initially Kujur's primary focus. During his school years, Kujur largely played football and only shifted seriously towards athletics during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
That late switch has since produced one of the fastest rises in Indian track and field.
Animesh Kujur
Photo Credit: Instagram
In 2021, competing without professional sprint gear, Kujur won the 200m race at the West Zone Junior Athletics Championship in Raipur and quickly attracted attention for his raw pace. His development accelerated after he joined the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar under coach Martin Owens.
Tall, powerful and technically refined, Kujur's running style has drawn attention within Indian athletics circles. At 6ft 2in, he combines strong acceleration with long-stride efficiency, a profile rarely seen among Indian short-distance sprinters.
His breakthrough season arrived in 2025.
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Kujur first entered the national record books on July 5, 2025, when he clocked 10.18 seconds at the Dromia International Sprint and Relays Meeting in Greece, becoming the first Indian sprinter to run the 100m in under 10.20 seconds.
He later set a national record of 20.32 seconds in the 200m at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, where he claimed bronze.
He also earned qualification for the World Athletics Championships, becoming the first Indian male sprinter to compete in a short sprint event at a global competition in Japan.
At the domestic level, Kujur dominated the 2025 National Games by winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events.
Now, with a 10.15-second run in Ranchi, he has pushed Indian sprinting into a new bracket altogether.
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