Kochi: Young Odisha sprinter Animesh Kujur stole the spotlight on the final day of the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition as he shattered the men’s 200m national record, clocking an impressive 20.40 seconds to clinch the gold medal.
The 21-year-old, who had earlier secured silver in the 100m, delivered a stunning performance to eclipse Amlan Borgohain’s previous record of 20.52 seconds set in 2022.
Running with confidence and rhythm, Kujur powered ahead of a strong field that included Borgohain himself, who finished second with a time of 20.80 seconds. Although Kujur fell short of the World Championships qualifying standard of 20.16 seconds – a benchmark considered extremely difficult for Indian sprinters – his effort was more than enough to surpass the Asian Championships qualifying time of 20.53 seconds set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
In the men’s triple jump, Praveen Chithravel produced another moment of brilliance by equalling his own national record of 17.37m. Representing JSW, the 23-year-old achieved the distance in his third attempt, securing gold and also booking his ticket for the World Championships in Tokyo later this year. Chithravel had originally set the national mark in Havana, Cuba, in May 2023, and his latest effort once again cleared the World Championships qualification standard of 17.22m.
With his remarkable leap of 17.37m, Chithravel also secured qualification for the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships. The Tamil Nadu athlete withdrew from the remainder of the event after achieving the milestone in his third attempt at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition in Kochi.
(IANS)
