India’s national 200m record holder Animesh Kujur added another landmark to his fast-growing sprint résumé on Saturday, clocking a personal-best 10.14 seconds to finish second in the men’s 100m final at the PUMA Fast Arms Fast Legs 2026 meet. The Odisha athlete’s run is the fastest 100m ever recorded by an Indian on foreign soil and the second-fastest by an Indian overall, behind only Gurindervir Singh’s national-leading 10.09 seconds.
The performance underlined Kujur’s continued rise across both sprint distances, with his 100m progression now placing him among India’s fastest-ever in the event while he remains the national record holder in the 200m.
How the 10.14s PB came together
Kujur showed strong form earlier in the day by winning his heat in 10.19 seconds, setting up a quicker effort in the final. He delivered that improvement when it mattered, shaving one hundredth of a second off his previous personal best of 10.15 seconds to post 10.14 seconds in the title race.
That marginal drop continued a season-long trend in which Kujur has consistently lowered his times, and it carried added significance because of where it was achieved. The 10.14-second clocking is described as the fastest 100m ever recorded by an Indian on foreign soil, a notable benchmark for Indian sprinting as athletes increasingly compete and test themselves internationally.
In overall Indian all-time terms, the run sits just behind Gurindervir Singh’s 10.09 seconds, which remains the national-leading mark referenced in the report. Kujur’s latest time also strengthens his standing on the all-time list, where he now owns three of the five fastest 100m times by an Indian.
As outlined in the all-time list provided, the five fastest 100m times by an Indian are: Gurindervir Singh (10.09s), Animesh Kujur (10.14s), Animesh Kujur (10.15s), Gurindervir Singh (10.17s), and Animesh Kujur (10.18s). The distribution highlights how Kujur has repeatedly pushed into elite territory in the shorter sprint, even while being best known nationally for his 200m record.
Building toward the Asian Games
Kujur’s 100m milestone arrives in the context of a season focused on major targets. He recently secured qualification for the Asian Games 200m at the Inter-State National Athletics Championships in June, where he clocked 20.74 seconds. That time was comfortably below the Athletics Federation of India qualifying standard of 20.88 seconds.
Despite clearing the qualifying mark with room to spare, Kujur said he was not satisfied with the timing, explaining that qualification was his primary objective at the Inter-State meet. “Honestly, I was not here for timing. The idea was to secure the qualification mark for the Asian Games. Since I have got it now, I will focus on improving before the Asian Games,” he said after the race.
His personal best in the 200m remains the national record of 20.32 seconds, reinforcing that the longer sprint continues to be his headline event. The report also notes that while Kujur has often said the 200m is his preferred event, many of his biggest improvements in the past year have come in the 100m.
Why this result matters for Indian sprinting
The 10.14-second run is significant not only for its placing and personal-best status, but also for what it signals about Kujur’s trajectory ahead of the Asian Games. Since setting the national 200m record in May 2025, he has gone below 20.50 seconds only once, according to the report, while his 100m times have shown sharper recent movement.
The story also places his Inter-State Championships performance in the wider context of India’s bronze medal finish in the mixed 4x100m relay at the Asian Relay Championships, where Kujur played a key role. His coach, Martin Owens, said that after a demanding travel schedule, the focus had been on securing qualification rather than chasing a particularly fast time.
In the 100m, Kujur has twice lowered the Indian record before Gurindervir Singh reclaimed it with a national-best 10.09 seconds. Now, with a foreign-soil best of 10.14 seconds and a position as the owner of three of India’s five fastest 100m marks, Kujur’s latest performance further cements his growing status as one of the country’s top sprinting talents heading into the Asian Games build-up.
