National Record Under Belt, Odisha’s Animesh Kujur Gears Up For Asian Athletics Championships

Bhubaneswar: Animesh Kujur was the star of the Federation Cup national athletics meet which concluded on Thursday.

The Odisha sprinter scorched the turf at Kochi’s Maharaja College stadium to rewrite the 200m national record. Kujur clocked 20.40 seconds to erase Amlan Borgohain’s previous mark of 20.52 set three years ago. Borgohain (20.80) had to settle for silver and Tamil Nadu’s Ragul Kumar (20.85) got bronze.

In achieving his personal best, Kujur qualified for the Indian team which will take part in the Asian Athletics Championships at South Korea’s Gumi, from May 27 to 31.

As he gears up for next month’s Asian Championships, Kujur thanked the Odisha government and Reliance Foundation for their unwavering support in his pursuit of excellence.

Kujur, who celebrated his gold with a Usain Bolt-like celebration, said the competition helped him set the national record as Borgohain and Kumar pushed him all the way in the final.

A trainee at the Odisha Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, the 21-year-old Kujur wants to become the first Indian to go below 20 seconds in 200m.

A footballer-turned-athlete, Kujur expressed his admiration for Bolt.

“I have liked Bolt from the beginning. Even when I was playing football and not into athletics, I knew Bolt was the fastest man in the world,” Kujur said.

Kujur, who also runs the 100m, bagged silver in the shorter sprint event earlier this week, clocking 10.32 seconds.

Besides 200m, Kujur has also been named in India’s 4x100m relay team.

Check India’s full squad for the Asian Championships: