Bhubaneswar: He was running in front of his own fans at Kalinga Stadium on Thursday evening.
But that did not hamper the focus of Animesh Kujur as the pride of Odisha raced to victory in the Men’s 200m at the 65th National Inter-State Athletics Championships 2026.
The sprinting sensation, who turned 23 earlier this month, first clocked 20.87 seconds in he heats to book his berth in the Asian Games, scheduled to be held in Japan’s Aichi-Nagoya from September 19 to October 4 this year.
The qualification mark for the Asian Games was 20.88.
Odisha’s Animesh Kujur won Gold in the Men’s 200m to qualify for the Asian Games, while Dondapati Mrutyam Jayaram claimed Silver. Watch the race 🎥#InterStateAthletics2026 #Athletics #OdishaForSports @afiindia pic.twitter.com/WWIMZbAhlL
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) June 25, 2026
Later in the evening, Animesh cruised to the 200m gold in a time of 20.74 seconds. Fellow Odisha teammate Dondapati Mrutyum Jayaram (20.97) finished second and Jishnu Prasad PK (21.18) was third.
🥇𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮 🤝 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 2026 ☑️#Odisha‘s sprinting sensation Animesh Kujur wins the Men’s 200m Run with a time of 20.87s at the 65th National Inter-State Athletics Championships 2026 and books his place at the Asian Games 2026.
Heartiest… pic.twitter.com/rwadAfEO4u
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) June 25, 2026
Though Animesh made the cut for Asian Games, the timings were below his personal best of 20.32 seconds, which is a National record. He had it too easy, and was just not pushed. Hopefully he has reserved his best for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
Animesh has already qualified for next month’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games, in both 100m and 200m.