Animesh Kujur The long dash

The 22-year-old from Chhattisgarh represents the best hope India has ever had in the men's 100m and 200m sprints. He is winning internationally. He recently became the first Indian to sprint in the Diamond League. He has reset two national records over just the past four months. Kujur was preparing for life as a soldier, so the switch to elite sport was unexpected, but he's enjoying it now, he says

- Sukanya Datta

“Personal best, personal best, personal best... I'm constantly trying to outrun myself,” says Animesh Kujur, grinning. He's certainly outrun everyone else in India.

Over the past four months alone, the 22-year-old sprinter has reset the national 200m record twice, and reset the national 100m record too. He won bronze at the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea. Caused considerable excitement in July, when he became the first Indian sprinter to compete in the Diamond League, and came in fourth.

If he qualifies for the World Athletics Championships, to be held in Tokyo in September, he will be the first Indian to compete in the men's 100m and 200m sprints at this level (the only other Indian is Dutee Chand, who ran the women's 100m in 2017).

As he works his way up the rankings, Kujur is India's best hope ever, in the men's 100m and 200m sprints, areas in which we have traditionally had no presence.

“What's interesting about him is that he's a sponge,” says Martin Owens, head coach at the Odisha Reliance Foundation High-Performance Centre (HPC). “He's like a student at the world meets, interacting with top-tier athletes and absorbing their habits and ways.”

Born in Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, Kujur's family moved around a fair bit, since both parents were police officers. Incidentally, both were also former athletes. His mother Reena Kujur, played basketball at the intercollegiate level, while his father, Amrit Kujur, played football for the state police team. Their boys, Animesh and Aniket, started out playing football too.