Athletics: Fastest in India! Animesh Kujur smashes men's 100m national record
Kujur becomes Indian national record holder in Greece meeting
In another massive step forward for Indian athletics, Animesh Kujur produced a performance for the ages over the weekend, claiming first place at the 2025 Dromia International Spring and Relays Meeting Final B in Greece despite being listed as an underdog by most online betting sites.
Kujur recorded an incredible time of 10.18s, which now stands as India’s national record, shaving two seconds of the previous headline time of 10.20s, posted by Gurvinder Singh in Bengaluru in March. Most notably, Kujur’s time in Greece was a full nine seconds better than his previous personal best.
The 22-year-old from Chhattisgarh has developed quite a reputation for himself over the last 12 months, having also etched his name in the history books in the 200m, where he clinched the national record with a time of 20.32s at the Asian Athletics Championships earlier this year.
Additionally, Kujur featured in India’s relay team at the National Relay Carnival in Chandigarh, where he, along with Singh, Manikanta Hobligdhar and Amlan Borgohain, earned another national record with a time of 38.69. In total, he now holds three separate national records simultaneously.
Notably, though, the Indian print sensation had a somewhat poor showing in the 200m in Greece, finishing seventh with a time of 20.73. However, India’s relay team claimed second place (39.99), finishing only behind the quartet of athletes from Turkey.
Mohammed Afsal shines for India in 800m
While sprinters tend to receive most of the media attention in athletics, as was the case this past weekend with Kujur, his compatriot Mohammed Afsal deserves plenty of credit for his performance in the 800m event.
Afsal, who won silver at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, beat Jinson Johnson’s seven-year Indian record of 1:45:65 at the UAE Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai in 2018. He then smashed his own record at the Memorial Czeslawa Cybulskiegi in Poland this weekend with a stunning time of 1:44.96 in Heat A/1.
Other Indian athletes that shone over the weekend were Moumita Mondal, who posted a personal best of 13.24 to win the women’s 100m hurdles in Greece, while Lalu Bhoi and Mrutyam Dondapati claimed fourth and fifth in the 100m men’s Final A, respectively.
