Odisha sprinter Animesh Kujur shatters records in Greece meet

Odisha sprinter Animesh Kujur set a new national record in the 100m with a stunning time of 10.18 seconds at the Dromia International Sprint and Relays Meeting in Greece on Saturday.

Competing in the second heat of the event, the 22-year-old became the first Indian to clock under 10.20 seconds in the 100m, surpassing Gurindervir Singh’s previous national record of 10.20 seconds. The event was held in Vari, a suburb of Athens, the Greek capital.

Kujur now holds national records in both the 100m and 200m. In May, he had clocked 20.32 seconds in the men's 200m final at the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea, breaking his own previous national mark of 20.40 seconds, which he had set at the Federation Cup earlier this year.

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Earlier in the day, Asian Games silver medallist Mohammed Afsal also broke his own national record in the men's 800m. Competing at the Memorial Czeslawa Cybulskiego meet in Poznan, Poland, Afsal became the first Indian to run the 800m in under 1:45, clocking 1:44.96 minutes to finish sixth in Heat A/1. Afsal had earlier won silver in the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou.