Animesh Kujur Sets New Benchmark, Clocks Fastest 100m by an Indian Overseas

Animesh Kujur Clocks Historic 10.14s, Records Fastest Overseas 100m by an Indian

India’s sprint star Animesh Kujur continued his rapid rise on Saturday, producing the fastest-ever 100m by an Indian on foreign soil after clocking a personal best 10.14 seconds at the PUMA Fast Arms Fast Legs 2026 meet.

The Odisha sprinter finished second in the men’s 100m final, improving on his previous personal best of 10.15 seconds by one hundredth of a second. His effort now stands as the second-fastest time by an Indian, behind only Gurindervir Singh’s national record of 10.09 seconds.

Animesh had hinted at a big performance earlier in the day by winning his heat in 10.19 seconds before going even quicker in the final.

The run further cements his place among India’s elite sprinters. Already the national record holder in the 200m (20.32s), Animesh now owns three of the five fastest 100m timings ever recorded by an Indian, underlining his remarkable consistency across both sprint events.

• India’s Fastest Men’s 100m Timings
• Gurindervir Singh – 10.09s
• Animesh Kujur – 10.14s
• Animesh Kujur – 10.15s
• Gurindervir Singh – 10.17s
• Animesh Kujur – 10.18s

Asian Games Focus Remains Intact

The latest achievement comes just weeks after Animesh comfortably secured qualification for the Asian Games in the men’s 200m at the Inter-State National Athletics Championships. He clocked 20.74 seconds, comfortably inside the Athletics Federation of India’s qualifying standard of 20.88 seconds.

Despite achieving the target, the 22-year-old admitted he was not entirely satisfied with the timing.

“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 further focus on improving before the Asian Games,” Animesh said after the race.

His coach Martin Owens explained that the emphasis had been on qualification rather than chasing a personal best, with Animesh still recovering from a busy international schedule.

“I wanted him to do well and achieve the qualification mark. We are very tired from the long trip of the Asian Relay Championships. He didn’t have much time to recover,” Owens said.

100m Success Despite 200m Preference

Interestingly, although Animesh has consistently maintained that the 200m is his favourite event, most of his recent milestones have come over the shorter sprint.

After breaking the national 200m record with 20.32 seconds in 2025, he has been even more impressive in the 100m, twice lowering the Indian record before Gurindervir Singh reclaimed it with his national-best 10.09-second run.

Animesh believes the difference comes down to the level of competition.

“I have said this multiple times that 200m is my pet event and I enjoy doing it more than anything else. However, I don’t get much competition in India. Like in 100m, Guri, Manikanta and Pranav are there. I don’t have anyone to push me in the 200m. That is why all my good performances have come in the 100m,” he said.

With the Asian Games approaching, the 10.14-second run is another indication that one of India’s brightest sprinting talents is moving closer to challenging the national record once again.