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Time of India
13-07-2025
- 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 Kujur live streaming: Indian set for moment of glory at Monaco Diamond League - time in IST, TV channel
Animesh Kujur (Image via X/@RFYouthSports) Inspired by sprint legend Usain Bolt, Animesh Kujur is poised to make history as the first Indian sprinter to feature in a Diamond League meet when he lines up for the U-23 200m race in Monaco on Friday. The 22-year-old, who hails from a tribal village in Chhattisgarh, has been in red-hot form, recently clocking national records of 10.18s in the 100m and 20.27s in the 200m. His race will feature Australian teen sensation Gout Gout, with the meet also showcasing Olympic stars like Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo — whom Kujur met in the dining hall. 'I used to see them on Instagram only, not in reality,' Kujur told AFP. 'They said, 'Yeah, bro, come and let's take a photo.' I felt like, oh wow, that I am on a bigger stage now. I have to act like a pro athlete.' Kujur credited his recent progress to a two-week training camp in Switzerland with coach Martin Owens and bobsleigh performance coach Chris Woolley. 'Because of that, my time improved so much,' he said. 'Whenever I compete with faster athletes, my times improve.' Owens, head coach at the Reliance Foundation's High Performance Centre in Odisha, called it a 'massive step up' for Kujur. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Why seniors are rushing to get this Internet box – here's why! Techno Mag Learn More Undo 'They don't want to be the best in India, they want to be competing on a world stage,' he said. When is the 2025 Monaco Diamond League scheduled for? The 2025 Monaco Diamond League, featuring several top athletes, including India's Animesh Kujur and Avinash Sable, is scheduled to take place on Friday, July 11 in France, Monaco at the the Stade Louis II stadium. How to watch Animesh Kujur live at 2025 Monaco Diamond League? For viewers in India, the live stream of proceedings will be streamed live on the official YouTube and Facebook channels of the Wanda Diamond League. The event will not be telecast live on TV channels in India. When is Animesh Kujur's event? India's Animesh Kujur is set to race in the men's U-23 200m event on Friday at 11:17 PM IST. The 22-year-old will be competing against the likes of Australia's Gout Gout. Avinash Sable, National record holder in the men's 3000m steeplechase will also be in focus at 1:04 am IST, on Saturday, July 12. Kujur is aiming to breach the 20.16s World Championship qualification mark. 'What I'm feeling now is I'm going to crack that time,' he said. 'I used to give (Bolt's) lightning strike pose after finishing first in India… Yeah, let's see what will happen tomorrow!' For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Manika Batra's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 3. Watch Here!
Indian Express
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Animesh Kujur's Cool Runnings mark of 10.18 seconds, comes after working with renowned bobsleigh coach Chris Wolley
In a reverse of the movie plot of Cool Runnings where Jamaican sprinters turn into a bobsled team, India's brand new 100m track sensation Animesh Kujur availed the expertise of a bobsleigh coach, ahead of his momentous dipping under the 10.2 second mark for a 10.18s national record. While Indian fans were soaking in the excellence of their greatest individual Olympian at the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru, another historic moment was unfolding in a quiet suburb of Greece, as Kujur became the fastest Indian man. Participating in the Dromia International Sprint and Relays meet in Vari, Greece, Animesh won the second final of the men's 100m and overall clocked the third best timing behind Benjamin Richardson (South Africa) who ran in 10.01s and Ali Al Balushi (Oman) who clocked 10.12. But it was what the sprinter did in the months leading up to this breakthrough, that riffs off the famous Jamaican tale. Animesh worked on his strength and conditioning with Chris Wolley – a renowned coach of winter Olympics sport, Bobsleigh. Martin Owens, coach of Animesh at Reliance Foundation, told The Indian Express from Greece, about how the association came about. 'One thing I have realized that a lot of technical improvements happen in the gym and with the physio. We worked with Chris at the Swiss Olympic Center and it paid off. He worked on movement patterns of Animesh when he starts and how he can be more dynamic while taking initial strides,' Owens mentioned. 'The initial strides sets him up for a better race. The first couple of strides aren't always as fast as they can be but they are better mechanically for setting him up for the race. So, we have worked on those first two strides,' he explained the technical adjustment. A post shared by RF Youth Sports (@rfyouthsports) // The work done has certainly paid off as Animesh shaved off nearly 0.09 seconds from his previous personal best of 10.27s which he clocked last year in Spain. He also ran 2.27s in 200m last month at Geneve Meet, fastest ever 200m by an Indian, but the timing was not counted, due to illegal windspeed of +2.3m/s Even as they head back to Switzerland pretty knackered, coach Owens was a happy man. 'I am elated at the National record for sure. It was a long day for us and now we are flying back but the timing he clocked makes it all worth it,' Owens said, audibly exhausted. The 22-year-old comes from the tribal Ghuitangar village of Kunkuri tehsil in Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh. Kujur rewrote the previous national record of 10.20s in 100m which was clocked by Gurindervir Singh at Indian Grand Prix earlier this March 2025. Racing in the second final of the men's 100, Kujur didn't start quick but shifted gears in the final 40m and a final push near the finish line resulted in him pipping the Greek runner Sotirios Garagganis to the finish line. 'I thought he ran a great race. He didn't give away anything in the first 10 or 20 meters, held his shape through the middle of the race, and finished perfectly at the end. It is due to the competition he gets here,' Owens said. 'In India, when he gets in the top speed, he is faster than everybody else. However, here everybody was matching him and he didn't panic in the end. If he would have been in the third final (where Benjamin and Balushi raced), he would have ended with a better timing,' he explained of the pacing dynamic further. The Indian group of sprinters — Animesh Kujur, Lalu Bhoi, Manikanta Hoblidhar, Gurindervir Singh, and Jayaram Dondapati — are on a European sojourn to participate in the World Athletics continental meets and also improve their timings. 'We are looking at him and the other sprinters to go faster on this tour. It is important to have quality competitions where the participants keep pushing each other,' said Owens. Besides training with the Winter Olympian coach, another reason that resulted in Animesh going faster is the conducive environment for sprint in Greece. 'We were afraid in morning as the tailwinds were very strong and it looked like we might get a good time but won't see the national record,' Owens said. 'However, as the evening came on, the winds dropped and the red&white wind sock that indicates the wind direction was barely moving and as the timings came, it was a satisfying race overall,' he added. When asked what's next for Animesh on the European tour, Owens confirmed that he will be racing at the Monaco Diamond League in the men's U23 200m race on 11th July. 'We are heading back to Switzerland for now and will rest. Animesh will race at the Monaco Diamond League. It is the U23 race for up and coming sprinters. A good initiative which will help someone like Animesh,' Owens said. The U23 Men's 200m at the Monaco Diamond League will be part of the one day programme and serve as the pre competition race for the men's 200m which will witness the Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in action. It will be a great chance for Animesh, who also rewrote the 200m national record twice in the year, to have shared field with the best in the world. As of the now, with both 100m and 200m national records to his, Animesh has definitely earned the right to be called the fastest man in the country.
