July 6, 2025: Indian athletics had a record-smashing day on Saturday as two national records were rewritten by sprinter Animesh Kujur and middle-distance runner Mohammed Afsal at international events in Greece and Poland respectively.
Animesh Kujur Clocks Historic 10.18s in 100m Sprint
At the Dromia International Sprint and Relays Meeting in Vari, a suburb of Athens, Greece, 22-year-old Animesh Kujur set a new national benchmark in the 100m sprint, clocking an impressive 10.18 seconds. This performance shattered the previous Indian national record of 10.20 seconds held by Gurindervir Singh.
Kujur finished first in the race, ahead of Greece’s Sotirios Garagganis (10.23s) and Finland’s Samuli Samuelsson (10.28s), at the World Athletics Continental Tour silver label meet.
With this feat, Kujur now holds both the 100m and 200m national records. Earlier this year in May, he had clocked 20.32 seconds in the men’s 200m final at the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea, breaking his own record of 20.40s set during the Federation Cup.
Mohammed Afsal Creates History in 800m
In Poland, Mohammed Afsal, the 2022 Asian Games silver medallist, became the first Indian to run the 800m in under 1:45 minutes. Competing at the Memoriał Czesława Cybulskiego in Poznan, Afsal recorded 1:44.96 minutes, finishing sixth in Heat A/1.
This marks Afsal’s second national record in just over a month. In May, he had clocked 1:45.61 minutes at the UAE Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai, breaking Jinson Johnson’s long-standing 2018 record of 1:45.65s.