Do You Know The Fastest Man From India? He Is Animesh Kujur
By the time you finish reading about him, the Sprinter’s probably left dust in the lanes and already crossed the finish line
In the time it takes you to tie your shoelaces, Animesh Kujur has already finished a race, jogged his cooldown, and waved politely to the cameras. A little dramatic? Maybe. But not by much.
Because at just 22 years old, this Chhattisgarh-born speed machine has officially broken the sound barrier of Indian sprinting as well as the national records that once stood tall in the 100m and 200m events.
Yes, India’s sprint crown has a new jewel. And his name is Animesh Kujur, who on July 5 clocked 10.18 seconds in the 100m dash at the Dromia International Sprint and Relays and is now set for another successful sprint at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday at 11:17 pm IST and will be going up against Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout in the men’s U23 200m race. (Gout has a personal best of 20.02s.)
Just a week before the sixteenth season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings in Monaco, the athlete from benchmarked a new Indian national record for a 100metres in just over ten seconds. That’s probably faster than your favourite generative AI pushing out your Ghiblified image, no kidding!
To be honest, the new sprinting record is a cherry on the top. A few weeks earlier, at the Asian Athletics Championships, Kujur broke his own 200m national record with a stunning 20.32s finish making him not only the fastest Indian ever, but also just the second Indian to win a 200m medal at the AAC.
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So, Who Is Animesh Kujur?
You’d think this was a story written in the stars since childhood. But not exactly. Animesh was a footballer until just six years ago before he made the move as footballer to sprinting.
Sometime between 2018 and now, the sprinting gods whispered in his ear and Animesh swapped the ball for the blocks, and thank every deity available, because the transformation has been extraordinary.
Animesh hails from Ghuitangar village in Jashpur district, Chhattisgarh — a remote tribal belt in central India far from any elite training facility. Initially a footballer, he was drawn to athletics during school. Without any sporting background in his family, Animesh showed unusual determination to achieve his dreams.
In 2020, he wasn’t even a sprinter. Just a teenager from Chhattisgarh, jogging with army aspirants to stay fit during the lockdown. But one suggestion changed everything.
Someone told him to try a local race. He showed up. He didn’t know it was a national qualifier. He had no coach, no formal training. Still, he outran expectations.
“My mother was worried. She asked me to quit. Sports felt uncertain and risky. But my father and uncle told me to give it a shot,” said Animesh.
Coach Owens, impressed by his confidence and raw potential, gave him a shot. Under the watchful (and frankly prophetic) eye of coach Martin Owens at the Odisha Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre, who scouted Animesh—was reshaped, remolded, and unleashed. Today, Animesh trains under Owens at the RF HPC in Bhubaneswar and represents Odisha in national meets.
At 6'2", Animesh has the kind of frame that looks built specifically for the track. And what makes his rise even more captivating is the pace of his progress. From a 20.62s in the 200m at the 2024 Federation Cup to 20.40s in April 2025 to 20.32s weeks later his growth graph is basically a vertical line.
Over the years, Animesh has brought home several gold medals including Gold in 200m at the Atletica Geneve 2025 - broke the national record in 200m, Gold in 200m at Federation Cup 2024 and Gold in 100m at Dromia International Sprints and Relays in Athens - where he became the first Indian to go sub-10.20 and more.
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And now with National records in both sprint events and hoping for another win at Diamond League organised by World Athletics. A muscle-packed comet blazing through lanes from Chhattisgrah to Greece. And while the world might still marvel at the 9.5s and 9.7s of international giants, India has crossed a long-awaited threshold. And the best part? He’s just getting started.
Post the Monaco Diamond League, Animesh will be in action at the Spitzen Leichtathletik in Lucerne, Switzerland on July 15. He will then be competing at the World University Games in Germany in the 200m event.