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Time of India
4 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Animesh finishes second in 100m heats at Swiss meet
Animesh Kujur continued his brilliant run in the ongoing season by coming second in Heat C of 100m during the Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern at Stadion Allmend in Lucerne, Switzerland, on Tuesday night. Coming into the race fresh from competing at the Monaco Diamond League last week, Kujur ran 10.28 seconds — his third-best personal time. While Sachin Dennis of Jamaica came first with a timing of 10.21 seconds, four more Indian athletes also took part in the race and pushed each other to the limit. Gurindervir Singh, who has a PB of 10.20 seconds and briefly held the 100m NR, came fourth with a timing of 10.54 seconds. Manikanta Hoblidhar, also a former 100m NR holder, followed suit with a time of 10.61 seconds. Odisha's DM Jayram and Lalu Prasad Bhoi were the next to cross the line. Jayram ran a PB of 10.65 seconds while Lalu crossed the line just 0.02 seconds later. However, Animesh was the most impressive of the Indian runners as he looks make good use of competing with the faster runners in the European circuit. While he is hoping to qualify for the World Championships in 200m, he is also aiming to break the 10-second mark in 100m. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cách giao dịch ETH/USD mà không cần nắm giữ Ether IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo He currently holds the 100m NR with a time of 10.18 seconds that he achieved during the Dromia International Sprint and Relays Meeting at Konstantinos Baglatzis Municipal Stadium in Vari, Greece, earlier this month. His coach Owen Martins, who trains him at Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre (HPC) in Bhubaneswar, however is well aware that it's going to take some time. "It's a slow process. It's still 2 metres and it's a long way off. Athens wasn't a fast track. So there's a few tenths of a second there. Also, in an earlier race, the wind was 1.7 m/s as opposed to 0. 5 m/s when he ran. So you can get down to 10.12 seconds just by changing the wind. But it's a gradual process and again, that's not really what we're trying to aim for," said Martins.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
'I'll qualify, don't worry': Animesh Kujur on making it to World Championships
Animesh Kujur (Image via X/@RFYouthSports) Animesh Kujur might have failed to finish among the top-three in his maiden appearance at the Diamond League, but he is quite confident of making it to the World Championships to be held in Tokyo in September. Speaking a day after the Monaco Diamond League meet, where he finished fourth in 200m in the U-23 category, Kujur said, 'I'll qualify. Don't worry.' Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! To make it to the worlds in 200m, he will have to run a time of 20.16 seconds, which is 0.16 seconds faster than his personal best of 20.32 seconds. It's going to be difficult but his coach Owen Martins also believes his pupil can achieve the target. Poll Do you believe Animesh Kujur will qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo? Yes, absolutely! No, I don't think so. 'Given the right race, the right people, and the right surface, it would be possible. There's 20.16 seconds in there somewhere. And that's a phenomenal improvement. Says a lot about the hard work he's done. He was banging out 20.5 seconds last year and we're thinking, like, what's going to happen? When's he going to break the national record?' said coach Martins, who trains Kujur at Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre (HPC) in Bhubaneswar. And empowering athletes for global success, the Odisha govt is supporting HPC athletes in gaining international exposure and competing with the world's best. Even if Kujur doesn't make the qualifying time, he can make it to the Worlds through the points system and he is currently ranked 39 in the world. As for the Friday's race, neither Kujur nor his coach was happy with his showing but the former footballer is more than happy with the experience. 'I expected more but I competed with big athletes like Gout Gout and some others also who are national record holders of their country. So running with fast athletes will only make you fast,' said Kujur during a virtual interaction. 'I also met Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo and saw their warm-up routines and how they train which I'm going to implement in my warm up in the coming days.' Meanwhile, Martins blamed the headwind for the slower time and admitted that Kujur wasn't as fit as the other athletes. 'We had a relay camp, the Asian championships and then the meet in Taiwan. We then flew here and we're not quite as fit as we need to be. And that was very evident on Friday night how fit everybody was — all the Diamond League athletes,' said Martins. As a result the coach now wants to get back to the basics but did say that his pupil's starts have immensely improved thanks to working with the SNC coach Chris Woolley at Magglingen Sportzentrum in Bern, Switzerland. 'We did some movement pattern work with him over a couple of sessions and we adapted that into the start. So the starts improved immensely but we could still make a few hundred seconds better there,' Martins added. Whether he is able to do that will be evident during his next few events, the first of which is Spitzen Leichtathletik in Lucerne, Switzerland, on July 15. The next will be the World University Games after which he will be competing in Bhubaneswar at the World Athletics Continental Tour. Catch Manika Batra's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 3. Watch Here!
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Animesh finishes 4th with 20.55s as Gout Gout wins in Monaco
Animesh Kujur made his debut, not just for himself but also for the country in sprints, at the Diamond League in Monaco on Friday in the Under-23 category and competing with Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout in the 200m final, he came fourth with a timing of 20.55 seconds at the Louis II stadium. As for Gout Gout, he won the race in 20.10 seconds ahead of Botswana's Busang Collen Kebinatshipi (20.28 seconds) and South Africa's Naeem Jack (20.42 seconds). Kujur was coming into the race having bettered the 100m NR on July 5 at the Dromia International Sprint and Relays Meeting at Konstantinos Baglatzis Municipal Stadium in Vari, Greece. He was high on confidence and looking to put up another impressive show on his debut at the prestigious Diamond League meet. However, on Friday night in Monaco, he couldn't better his PB of 20.32 seconds that he had achieved during the Asian Athletics Championships last month. He even ran a time of 20.27 seconds last month during the Atleticageneve 2025 event in Switzerland which wasn't recognised as NR because of wind assistance. But he wasn't close to those timings and missed the third place by 0.13 seconds in front of a sizeable crowd. Despite the performance in Monaco, the sprinter who trains under coach Martin Owens at the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre (HPC) at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar has been getting faster by leaps and bounds over the past few months. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Here's The Average Price of a 6-Hour Gutter Upgrade in Pittsburgh Read More Undo This year itself he had five of his best time in 200m, excluding Friday's race. He began the season by winning the gold at the national games by running 20.58 seconds in February. Then in April, during the National Federation Senior Athletics Championships in Kochi, he achieved a timing of 20.40 seconds to break Amlan Borgohain's national record of 20.52 seconds. In May, he continued his good how and competed at the UAE Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai Police Club Stadium where he grabbed the first place with a time of 20.45 seconds. Then about a week later, at the Indian Grand Prix 2 in Trivandrum, he ran 20.55 seconds. He had spoken about how he needed to work on his starts earlier in the year and it's certainly has improved over the past few months. What has also helped is his camp in Bern, Switzerland, with Coach Martins and Chris Woolley — strength and bobsleigh performance coach. Hopefully, in the coming days, he will be able to the make the 20.16 seconds qualifying mark for the world championships in Tokyo in September, which is challenging but not impossible.
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
‘Need to compete with faster athletes'
Animesh Kujur Despite a successful outing at the National Games in Dehradun early this year, Animesh Kujur wasn't a happy man. That's because he wasn't just aiming for a win there, he was also eyeing records and better timings and had pushed himself day in and day out to make sure he could do that. Although he didn't succeed then, it's finally happening. First he broke the 200m national record during the final of the Asian Athletics Championships on May 31 when he ran a time of 20.32 seconds to grab a silver medal. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! On Saturday night at the Dromia International Sprint and Relays Meeting at Konstantinos Baglatzis Municipal Stadium in Vari, Greece, he shattered the 100m national record by crossing the finish line in 10.18 seconds. Animesh, who trains at the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre (HPC) at Kalinga Stadium, bettered Gurindervir Singh's timing of 10.20 seconds set during the Indian Grand Prix 1 at Netaji Subhas Southern Centre of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Bengaluru in March. He told TOI in an exclusive interview, 'I have to compete with faster athletes. In India, there aren't many competitors like that. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Learn How To Write Faster for Work (Find Out Now) Grammarly Learn More Undo But I have the scope of training abroad and running with athletes who have timings close to 10 seconds. That is how I will be able to measure where I stand.' With more events coming up, one expects him to run even faster in his quest to breach the 10-second barrier, which James Hiller, athletics director with Reliance Foundation, believes is quite possible. 'I get asked a lot, can an Indian break 10 seconds? And they can,' said Hiller. 'I think positive mindset will help the sprinters genuinely believe that they can be faster and they can run under 10 seconds.' For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Competing ‘with faster athletes', Animesh breaks 100m NR in Greece
Despite a successful outing at the National Games in Dehradun early this year, Animesh Kujur wasn't a happy man. That's because he wasn't just aiming for a win there, he was also eyeing records and better timings and had pushed himself day in and day out to make sure he could do that. Although he didn't succeed then, it's finally happening. First he broke the 200m national record during the final of the Asian Athletics Championships on May 31 when he ran a time of 20.32 seconds to grab a silver medal. And now on Saturday night at the Dromia International Sprint and Relays Meeting at Konstantinos Baglatzis Municipal Stadium in Vari, Greece, he shattered the 100m national record by crossing the finishing line in 10.18 seconds. Animesh, who trains at the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre (HPC) at Kalinga Stadium, bettered Gurindervir Singh's timing of 10.20 seconds set during the Indian Grand Prix 1 at Netaji Subhas Southern Centre of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Bengaluru in March. International competition, like the one where he shone on Saturday, is what he was talking about when he said in an exclusive interview to TOI, "I have to compete with faster athletes. In India, there aren't many competitors like that. But I have the scope of training abroad and running with athletes who have timings close to 10 seconds, and that way I will be able to gauge where I stand at the moment." As far as Saturday's race is concerned, he rushed out of the blocks in the blink of an eye and continued to lead. Running in lane 4, he kept improving his pace and, despite some challenge from Sotirios Gkaragkanis of Greece, he crossed the finish line in the first position quite easily — .09 seconds faster than his earlier PB of 10.27 seconds. Gkaragkanis had to settle for second place (10.23 sec) while Samuli Samuelsson finished third (10.28 sec). With more events coming up, one expects him to run even faster in his quest to someday breach the 10-second barrier, which James Hiller, athletics director with Reliance Foundation, believes is quite possible. "I get asked a lot, can an Indian break 10 seconds? And they can," said Hiller, before adding, "It's all about how, and I think positivity will help the mindset of our sprinters genuinely believe that they can be faster, they can be better and they can, they can run under 10 seconds and ultimately that's what we need." Meanwhile, besides Animesh, Lalu Prasad Bhoi and Mrutyam Jayaram Dondapati — both from Odisha — also took part in the event and competed in another race and clocked 10.42 seconds and 10.47 seconds respectively. In another race, Manikanta Hoblidhar ran it in 10.52 seconds. Animesh will next compete in the Monaco Diamond League on July 11 where he will run the 200m in the U23 category. He will hope to lower his NR there, too, after his time of 20.27 seconds last month, during the Atleticageneve 2025 event in Switzerland, wasn't recognised as NR because of wind assistance. While individually, he has been having a hugely successful season, he has also been in brilliant form in the relays and alongwith Amlan Borgohain, Gurindervir and Manikanta, they broke the 15-year-old NR in 4x100m by clocking 38.69 seconds during the National Relay Carnival 2025 in Chandigarh in April.
