Indian sprinting witnessed one of its most dramatic weekends at the Federation Cup in Ranchi, where the battle for the men's 100m national record turned into a back-and-forth duel between Gurindervir Singh and Animesh Kujur before ending with a historic finish on Saturday.
The record was first broken during Friday's semi-finals at the Birsa Munda Stadium. Gurindervir clocked 10.17 seconds to improve upon the previous national mark of 10.18 set by Kujur. Minutes later, Kujur responded in the following heat with a faster 10.15-second effort to take the record back immediately.
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Less than 24 hours later, Gurindervir returned with a run that pushed Indian sprinting into completely new territory.
The Punjab sprinter stormed to victory in the final with a stunning 10.09-second finish, becoming the first Indian man to break the 10.10 barrier in the 100m event. Kujur finished second in 10.20s as the crowd in Ranchi witnessed the fastest race ever run by an Indian field.
Watch the historic run by Gurindervir here:
After crossing the line, Gurindervir celebrated by holding up a handwritten note carrying the message: “Task Is Not Finished Yet” alongside “10:10” and the words “Wait I Am Still Standing.”
His 10.09-second effort also secured qualification for the 2026 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games after comfortably going under the Athletics Federation of India's qualification mark of 10.16 seconds. The timing now ranks among Asia's fastest performances this season.
The 25-year-old's journey to the top has included significant setbacks. Gurindervir, who comes from a village near Jalandhar in Punjab, first emerged as a promising sprinter after setting the U-20 national mark in 2018. But recurring health complications mainly due to digestive issues, disrupted his progress and kept him away from peak competition for an extended period.
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Following his recovery, he rebuilt his career steadily and returned to national prominence in 2025. Gurindervir now trains under coach James Hillier at the Reliance Foundation programme and is also part of India's national-record-holding 4x100m relay team.
Saturday's 10.09-second sprint, however, placed him in a category of his own, as the fastest Indian man ever over 100 metres.
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