14-07-2025
100m in just 10.18 secs & fiery records. With military grit, 3 Indian athletes are breaking barriers
Kujur's journey began during the lockdown, when he joined army aspirants on morning jogs. His time at a Sainik School further shaped his talent and discipline. For Afsal, the Indian Air Force has played a pivotal role. Now a Junior Warrant Officer, he has benefited from the IAF's athlete-friendly policies, which offer flexibility in training while maintaining service commitments. Gulveer Singh, a Naib Subedar in the Indian Army, has seen his military career rise alongside his athletic one.
Indian athletics is buzzing with these three standout performances, but there's more tying them together—the discipline of the Indian armed forces. With focused training abroad and a relentless drive, they're lighting up Indian track and field.
New Delhi: On 5 July, 22-year-old sprinter Animesh Kujur from Chhattisgarh became India's fastest man, clocking 10.18 seconds in the 100m at the Dromia International Sprint and Relays Meeting in Greece. In Poland the same day, 29-year-old middle-distance runner Mohammed Afsal from Kerala was making history by becoming the first Indian to break the 1:45 barrier in the 800m, clocking a historic 1:44.93 at the Memorial Czeslawa Cybulskiego. Meanwhile, 26-year-old long-distance runner Gulveer Singh from Uttar Pradesh has continued his streak of record-breaking runs, most recently stopping the clock at 27:00.22 in the 10,000m at The Ten 2025 meet in California.
'I was promoted to havaldar after I won the National Games gold. And after the Asian Games bronze, I was promoted once again to Naib Subedar,' he told Sportstar. 'Normally, people take 20 years to reach that rank—but I did it in just six.'
Kujur is already the national record holder in the 200m with a 20.32-second run that earned him bronze at the Asian Athletics Championships. Afsal, too, didn't just break new ground in Poland—he bettered his own previous best and eclipsed the long-standing national record of 1:45.65 set by Jinson Johnson in 2018. Singh has steadily built his reputation as one of Asia's top distance runners, now holding national records in the 3,000m, 5,000m, and 10,000m.
ThePrint spoke to the coaches and support teams behind these record-breaking athletes to understand what's driving this new wave of Indian track success, what their training is like, where the breakthroughs began, and how the discipline and structure of their military connections shaped their journeys to the top.
Animesh Kujur: From Maoist heartland to national glory
The story of Animesh Kujur reads like something out of a movie script—a boy from the Maoist-affected Bastar region who found his calling during lockdown jogs alongside army aspirants.
Born 2 June 2003, in Ambikapur, Kujur's athletic journey began in the most unlikely circumstances. Growing up in the police staff quarters in Bastar, sport was embedded in his family DNA. His father Amrit Kujur was a deputy superintendent of police, who had been an athlete before switching to football. His mother played hockey.
The Kujurs enrolled their son in Sainik School Ambikapur, nearly 650 km from home, seeking to nurture his athletic abilities in a disciplined environment.
His transformation under British coach Martin Owens at the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre has been nothing short of remarkable. When Owens first saw Kujur, the technical deficiencies were glaring.
'He couldn't squat. He couldn't squat. He would fall over. He always had this potential to run really fast. It's just his body wasn't letting him,' Owens told ThePrint.
The coach's assessment was brutally honest but optimistic. 'We worked on a lot of range of movement stuff. Coordination has paid off. We've worked with some of the guys at the Swiss Olympic Centre to improve some of his movement patterns. We've utilised that to give him a better start.'
When Kujur clocked 10.18 seconds in Greece, breaking Gurindervir Singh's national record of 10.20 seconds, even his coach felt vindicated. 'I think he's been in shape to run this since February.'
'He didn't realise he'd broken it. The stadium clock went 10.20. And then they announced in Greek,' he said laughing. 'And his Greek's not very good!'
'So, we picked up that he'd run 10.18. And then we were worried about the wind. And then we saw the wind gauge. And they announced that it was 0.5. So, he was just walking back, looking pretty normal. And I'm shouting, 'You've broken the national record! You've broken the national record!' And he's going, 'What? 10.18? It's 10.18?' with a mix of shock and excitement. So, yeah. Yeah, we're just working on improving. All we're trying to do is improve all the time.'
Kujur made history at Diamond League in Monaco on Friday, becoming the first Indian sprinter to compete in the event. He missed the podium by just 0.13 seconds, finishing fourth in the men's U23 200m final. The Indian clocked 20.55 seconds, falling just short of his personal best of 20.32.
'It's often a big leap up. I mean, there's going to be a 15,000-plus crowd there. And, you know, Noah Lyles and I think seven Olympic champions competing. So, I really just want him to see how he handles it. It's a great opportunity for him to mix with the best in the world and just see what they're doing. And, you know, prove that he's on the road to being that good,' the coach said.
The previous 100m national record had changed hands multiple times in recent years. Amiya Kumar Mallick had held it at 10.26 seconds since 2016, before Amlan Borgohain marginally improved it to 10.25 seconds in 2022. Manikanta Hoblidhar bettered it at 10.23 seconds in 2023, before Gurindervir Singh clocked 10.20 seconds in March.
The 200m national record was also broken by Kujur this year. He clocked 20.32 seconds at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, where he won a bronze medal. Kujur had previously broken the national record just over a month ago with a time of 20.40 seconds at the Federation Cup.
'He's just becoming more disciplined, and that's the advantage of coming on these European exposure trips…,' said Owens. 'He's driven to be the first Animesh Kujur, he's not chasing records. He just wants to be the best he can be, and that's what gives him that mental strength.'
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Mohammad Afsal: The hybrid
Kerala's sporting culture has provided the perfect launching pad for Afsal's career.
'Kerala has a very good athletic ecosystem now. It's actually kind of diminished. Those years when he was in school, the government used to support athletes, athletics is a big sport in Kerala because most of the athletic stars are from there,' said coach Ajith Markose.
Afsal's dominance began early, right from the school level. 'He was winning all the medals, and I think he won five gold medals at a single meet. He broke the 800m, 1,500m and 3,000m record,' his coach added.
His breakthrough came in 2013 when he won gold at the inaugural Asian School Track and Field Championships in Malaysia, marking his entry into international competition.
Afsal joined the Reliance Foundation programme in 2021, where he has been training under Markose. The coach revealed the methodical approach behind Afsal's breakthrough: 'We internally called it Indian Reliance Foundation 'Project 144' to make an Indian run below 1:45.'
The technical approach was crucial. 'Afsal is kind of hybrid, like his speed is good, his endurance is good, so his training is also mostly based on those two, I mean, his strength and also we make sure that his weaknesses are also addressed and not neglected,' Markose explained.
Climate played a significant role in the breakthrough. 'In India, it's slightly difficult because climate conditions are not very suitable, and also in most of the championships, Indians are pressured to run for medals, so generally that won't cause a fast race,' the coach noted. 'In Europe, generally the temperature and humidity are lower, so that's a good thing for middle- and long-distance runners.'
Afsal's record-breaking 1:44.93 run broke Johnson's record of 1:45.65, which had itself broken the legendary Sriram Singh's 42-year-old record of 1:45.77 from the 1976 Olympics.
Gulveer Singh: Farmer's son who struck gold
Gulveer Singh's transformation from a farmer's son running on village ridges to becoming Asia's premier distance runner has been remarkable. Born in Sirsa village in Aligarh district, Singh's journey began in the most humble circumstances. His family background was quintessentially rural Indian.
Coach Scott Simmons, who has guided Singh's recent success, first saw Singh training in Bengaluru. He was immediately confident about his potential.
'When first seeing him train in Bangalore and learning about his past training, I was confident that he would breach many Indian national records.'
The technical revolution in Singh's training was comprehensive. 'Indian long-distance training, up until this point, was very non-specific and lacked global aerobic development. Long distance runners did not perform long runs, progressive weekly volumes nor specific intervals or tempo runs. These are the main changes we implemented,' Simmons said.
The exposure to international training environments proved crucial. 'AFI's (Athletics Federation of India) support on our Colorado Springs training camp not only provided him a large group of world class training partners, like two-time US Olympic 5000m medalist Paul Chelimo, but also international competition opportunities.'
Singh's indoor achievements have been particularly impressive. At the Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge in February, he clocked 12:59.77 in the 5000m, becoming the first Indian to break 13 minutes indoors and setting a new Asian record.
The national record for 3000m is also held by Singh. He finished with a time of 7:38.26 in Boston earlier this year. This new record surpasses the previous record of 7:49.47 set by Surendra Singh in 2008, and bettered India's outdoor 3,000m record of 7:50.31, also held by Surendra Singh since 2008.
Singh's recent achievements include winning India's first gold at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in the 10,000m, where he clocked 28:38.63. This victory not only earned India its first gold at the championships but also placed Singh alongside Indian legends Hari Chand (1975) and G Lakshmanan (2017), who previously won gold in this event.
He won another gold at the same meet in the 5000m category, where he clocked 13:24.77, making it the national record.
Gulveer also broke his own 10,000m national record at The Ten competition in the US, clocking 27:00.22. He previously held the record at 27:14.88, set in Japan last year
'His discipline is exceptional, and, I'm sure, this is in part because of his Indian Army service,' notes his coach.
The comparison with US Army athletes is particularly revealing. 'I have long coached US Army soldiers who have repeatedly qualified to represent Team USA at the Olympics and World Championships. Their Army training, I feel, has been an important part of their success too,' Simmons said.
Goals set
The ultimate ambition of all three athletes extends far beyond national records. Afsal's Coach Markose is explicit about the long-term vision: 'Our ultimate goal is to make an Indian run in an Olympics or World Championship Final in the middle and long distance. For Afsal, he is actually very close to that right now but he has to go a long way given how competitive it is in the Olympics and World Championships to get into the finals.'
The progression required is steep. 'Most of the times like final time might be slower than the heats and semi time. So, we have to work on a lot of things to get into that and that's our ultimate aim and for Afsal to sleep like a baby at night, he also has to run to be one of the finalists in an Olympics or World Championship before that.'
For Singh, the goals are similarly ambitious. 'Our goals, moving forward, are to be competitive on the world stage. He has already established himself as one of the top Asian-born long-distance runners, but we feel that he can qualify and be competitive for medals at the World Championships and Olympics, despite the high level,' his coach explained.
'We have improved his overall specific endurance and his finishing speed, but we need to continue this progression in order to compete for medals.'
Animesh Kujur's targets are equally lofty. His coach believes there's more to come. 'We're just working on improving. That's all. All we're trying to do is improve all the time. Our primary aim is to prepare and to qualify for the world championships. That's our primary goal.'
'I must have seen recently that Indians started doing well and especially in women's programmes. Animesh recently did 10.18, we are hoping he is going to
be one of the first Indians to run below 10 in 100m and that's going to be historic,' noted coach Markose.
The systematic approach is yielding results. 'It's like there is no lack of talent in India. It shows what structured professional programmes can bring up.… I think we are very happy that we, as Reliance Foundation, are pioneering this,' said Martin Owens.
The infrastructure development supporting these athletes represents a significant investment in India's sporting future. The Reliance Foundation's comprehensive ecosystem, Odisha's world-class facilities, and the defence forces' systematic support structure have created an environment where athletic excellence can flourish.
'This is made possible by Reliance and the Odisha government. They've got to be credited with their inputs on these performances. Everything that happens in Bhubaneswar… Access to the best championships. Everything we do. Their investment, I hope, is paying off,' acknowledged coach Owens. 'These are exciting times and exciting times are ahead.'
The AFI has played a major role in uplifting Indian athletes by implementing a comprehensive, long-term development plan that identifies and nurtures talent from the grassroots to the elite level.
With appropriate training guidelines, scientific coaching, and continuous support from expert coaches including foreign specialists, AFI ensures athletes receive world-class training, psychological support, and exposure to top-level competition, helping them excel nationally and globally.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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