For months leading up to the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, Indian athletics fans had circled one name in particular Animesh Kujur.
The 20-year-old sprinter from Odisha carried the hopes of a nation as the first-ever Indian male sprinter to qualify for the 200m event at the Worlds. His entry itself was historic, but with his record-breaking season, many wondered if he could hold his own against some of the fastest men on the planet. On September 17, when Kujur lined up alongside Olympic medalists and world-class sprinters like Kenneth Bednarek (USA) and Jerome Blake (Canada), it was not just another race it was the biggest test of his fledgling career.
Right from the blocks, the heat carried drama. The first attempt at the start was aborted when South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile moved early, forcing a restart. In that initial reaction, Animesh had shown lightning reflexes — 0.138s, one of the sharpest in the field. But the aborted start meant he had to go again. When the race finally resumed, Kujur’s reaction time was still impressive 0.147s, the third fastest in the heat but in elite sprinting, those tiny fractions matter. The restart seemed to rattle him slightly, and the rhythm he has displayed all year never truly arrived.
When the race was run and dusted, Animesh Kujur crossed the line ninth in his heat, clocking 20.77 seconds. It was well below his personal best of 20.32s, the Indian national record he set earlier this season. Bednarek, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, dominated the race with 19.98s, showing why he remains among the very best in the world. Behind Bednarek, Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike (Nigeria) and Dambile (South Africa) both qualified automatically with identical marks of 20.27s. Kujur, meanwhile, was left disappointed, knowing he had produced slower times in a season where he had consistently hovered around the low 20s.
A Season of Firsts
Despite the tough finish, Kujur’s 2025 season deserves context. It has arguably been the best-ever campaign by an Indian male sprinter. Over the past months, the Odisha youngster delivered a string of remarkable performances:
- 100m: National Record with 10.18s, plus multiple runs under 10.30s.
- 200m: National Record with 20.32s, plus windy 20.27s (+2.3), and legal runs of 20.40s, 20.45s, and 20.55s (-1.9).
- 4x100m Relay: Part of the squad that shattered the Indian record with 38.69s and produced four more sub-39s clockings.
Beyond the numbers, Kujur also won medals at the Asian Championships and the World University Games (WUG). He even earned the opportunity to compete in a Diamond League U23 race, a rare chance for any Indian sprinter. In short, his qualification for Tokyo was not accidental it was the culmination of a season where he consistently pushed the boundaries of Indian sprinting.
The Worlds, however, are a different beast. Lining up next to athletes who have multiple Olympic medals or World final appearances can be intimidating. Bednarek’s effortless sub-20, Blake’s consistency, and the sheer depth of the field underlined the gulf between Indian sprinting and global standards. For Kujur, the experience itself is invaluable. At just 20, he has now raced against some of the biggest names in athletics in front of 60,000 fans inside Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium. That pressure, those lights, and that stage are unlike anything he has faced before.
And while his 20.77s may look disappointing on paper, the race will serve as a reference point for what it takes to perform when the stakes are highest.
Indian athletics is at an interesting crossroads. For decades, sprinters struggled even to reach continental finals. In Kujur, India has a genuine world-class prospect who can hold his own in qualification rounds of global championships. His 100m national record of 10.18s puts him within striking distance of the sub-10 barrier once thought impossible for Indian sprinters. His 200m record shows that, on his day, he can dip well under 20.40s, a time that has often secured semifinal berths at Worlds.
The next three years are critical. Kujur will need to refine his race execution, improve his top-end speed endurance, and gain more experience against elite competition. With Los Angeles 2028 Olympics on the horizon, India could realistically dream of having a sprinter in the Olympic semifinals and perhaps even a finalist if he continues this trajectory.
More Than Just One Race
For Indian fans, the sight of Animesh Kujur in the heats at Tokyo was symbolic. It was not just about his 20.77s finish. It was about breaking barriers. About seeing the tricolor in events long dominated by the Americas, Europe, and parts of Africa. About inspiring the next generation of Indian sprinters to believe that global athletics stages are not beyond their reach.
Tokyo may not have given Kujur the result he wanted, but it gave Indian athletics a new benchmark. The “Golden Boy” of Indian sprinting may have fallen short this time, but the fire is lit and his journey is only beginning. Animesh Kujur’s 200m heat at the World Athletics Championships 2025 will be remembered not for the time he clocked, but for the history he made. The first Indian male sprinter to compete in a World Championship 200m, a national record-holder, and a trailblazer in every sense his presence on the track marked a new chapter.
In sport, progress is rarely linear. Setbacks are part of the journey. For Kujur, this was one race in a career that promises many more highs. And as India looks ahead to future championships, one thing is clear: Animesh Kujur is here to stay, and Indian sprinting will never be the same again.
