Have implemented tips from Bolt, hoping to better my timing: India's fastest man Animesh Kujur

Bhubaneswar: India's fastest man Animesh Kujur has implemented the tips from legendary sprinter Usain Bolt during their meeting last year and is confident of further improving his national record timing this season.

Kujur met Jamaican Bolt, the world record holder in men's 100m (9.58 seconds) and 200m (19.19 seconds), during a promotional event in Delhi in September 2025.

"I showed him my running technique. And I asked him what else can I improve. Then he told me so many things. Like running action. Like you raise your hands in the set," Kujur, who is currently the national record holder in men's 100m and 200m, said.

"He (Bolt) told me so many things. So, I have implemented those things in my training. And I have improved a lot. It took time. In the beginning, it felt weird. It feels weird when you learn something new. So, I did it like that," he said ahead of the inaugural National Indoor Championships here.

The 22-year-old is part of the 33-member Odisha team in the two-day event being held at the state-of-the-art indoor facility at the Kalinga Stadium complex. He will run in the 60m event.

He set both the 100m and 200m national records of 10.18 seconds and 20.32 seconds in 2025 which turned out to be his breakout year.

Kujur said the 60m indoor race will help him in the longer sprint events.

"I am giving this (60m indoor event) as a training, in the sense I am seeing an improvement which will help in 100m and 200m. And this track is also a Mondo track. This is a fast track.

"This year, my target is very big as there is the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. I need competition and it's also happening in my home ground." He will open his outdoor season at the Indian Open Series on April 11 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, where he will also compete on the newly laid Mondo track.

"My target is to complete on fast track. And I am focusing on the Delhi competition also. Because there is a Mondo track there also." Asked if his participation in the 60m indoor event is to improve his starting part of the 100m race, he said, "Now, I have got a lot of improvement. It just comes from training. Last year, because of my start, I didn't get good timing in many competitions.

"But this year, I am focusing a lot on starts. And this year, 60m is also a very good opportunity for me." "I am very confident now. Because my timing is good in the start. It's a world-class timing. I know it's not official. But it will happen." He, however, admitted that indoor training is tough.

"I have been training at this Kalinga indoor facility. Yes, indoor training is tough. it asks for blood. I have fallen 2-3 times." Animesh 2.0? --------------- Kujur seemed to have tapered his performance towards the second part of last year, and he attributed it to the physical fatigue after taking part in many events.

"Last year, I didn't expect that I would qualify for the World Championships. I didn't qualify according to qualifying timing, I made the grade through ranking.

"But when I did well in the Asian Championships, I got a lot of points. So, I took part in a lot of competitions. I got fatigued in those competitions. I didn't even realise it. It was my first experience.

"I was getting a chance to play in the World Championships. Why should I miss it? So, I tried to qualify as much as I could. By the time I reached the World Championships, my body was already fatigued." He said he will focus on quality rather than quantity this season.

"For Asian Games, I know that I'm going to qualify. That's why I'm not focusing on the number of competitions. I want to play quality competitions. It's not like last year when I was playing and playing.

"It won't happen this year. And this year, I also learned how to keep the competition game between training.

"I will implement all these things this year. Yes, you can say it will be Animesh 2.0."