Animesh Kujur focused on medals, not Gurindervir’s fastest-man debate | Commonwealth Games

Animesh Kujur isn’t losing sleep over surrendering the tag of India’s fastest man to Gurindervir Singh. Instead, the national record-holder in the 200m wants his performances at the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games to do the talking.

After Gurindervir’s historic sub-10.10 run rewrote the men’s 100m national record in Odisha earlier this year, Kujur has inevitably been asked about reclaiming the crown. But the Odisha sprinter has chosen to park that conversation for now.

“Just waiting for Asian Games,” Kujur told PTI when asked about regaining India’s fastest-man tag.

When pressed further, he smiled and added: “Yeah, just wait till the Asian Games. Then we’ll talk again.” 
The calm response is characteristic of the 22-year-old, who has steadily emerged as one of India’s brightest sprinting prospects under British coach Martin Owens.

The athlete-coach partnership began during the Under-23 National Championships after Kujur, impressed by the progress of Reliance Foundation athletes Amlan Borgohain and Jyothi Yarraji, decided to join the programme.

“I had started searching about Reliance and the athletes there. I came to know about Amlan and Jyothi Didi. I saw coach Martin wearing the Reliance T-shirt. My coach asked me whether I wanted to join Reliance after seeing my race, and I said yes. From that day, we have been working together,” Kujur recalled. 

Owens, though, had his own version of the story.

“The true story is that he came and pestered me and begged and begged and begged me to coach him,” he joked. “But obviously he thought I was James. He got the wrong coach.” 
Behind the humour lay genuine belief.

“He ran 21.1 and you could see he was really tight and very raw. If we could just polish that a bit, he was going to run fast. Every day and every week we try to get a little bit better. He’s ambitious, which is very good, and we’re always striving to be the best we can.” 
Owens credited Kujur’s progress to India’s improving high-performance ecosystem.

“We’ve got fantastic facilities in Odisha, excellent support from Reliance, and great physios. People think India is way behind, but in many ways we’re well ahead. The athletes can focus entirely on athletics, and we’re benefiting from that.” 
The British coach also dismissed any notion of rivalry turning sour after Gurindervir’s record-breaking exploits.

“I think what you’ve got to realise is we’re really pleased that Guri’s running that fast. Psychologically, running 10.0 has made such a difference to Indian sprinting. Congratulations to Guri and his coaching team.

“We want a healthy rivalry. That’s what we want. We don’t want a destructive rivalry. We’re as happy as anybody else that he’s running that fast.” 
Turning point 
Owens believes Indian sprinting has reached a turning point.

“Four years ago everybody was saying breaking 10 seconds was impossible. Now it’s about when. Guri (Gurindervir), Mani (Manikanta Hoblidhar) and Pranav (Pramod Gurav) are all pushing the standards up. You can’t be complacent anymore.

“We’ve got a really good crop of young sprinters coming through and they all believe they can be the first to break 10 or 20 seconds. That’s good. We need that swagger.” 
He is convinced the country’s sprint revolution has only just begun.

“India will get there. Then it’ll be 9.8, then 9.7. That’s where we want to go. If we can find an Indian Bolt, we’ll be there.” 
Kujur said racing overseas has accelerated his development.

“When I race faster athletes, I know exactly where I stand. In India, especially over 200 metres, I’m usually ahead from the start. That’s why competing in Europe is important. I learn what I need to improve technically and then work on it in training.” 
Far from being intimidated by packed stadiums, he is motivated by the big stage.

“People think athletes get scared in front of huge crowds, but I feel excited. Even at the World Championships I wasn’t under pressure. I was excited because I was racing against the best and wanted to show what I could do.” 
The overseas exposure has also helped him grow beyond the track.

“This year I travelled alone, competed by myself in Germany and even set my personal best there. Every trip teaches me something about how to travel, how to compete and how to handle pressure. I’ll try to implement all those learnings at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.” 
Kujur said relay commitments have limited his opportunities in the 200m this season.

“We haven’t had many 200-metre races this year. I only got one in Taiwan, and because of the rain, I only ran the heats. I want more quality races over 200 metres and improve there the same way I’ve improved in the 100.” 
Owens said the World Relays and Asian Relays had affected Kujur’s 200m schedule but added: “The Commonwealth Games will be good and then the Asian Games will be super good.