Breaking the speed lock

Bengaluru: Where is India’s Usain Bolt? Why can’t we find one fast runner in a country of 145 crore population? When will an Indian sprinter win a medal at the Olympics? These are some of the questions that are being asked of Indian athletics.

Answers to these questions will surely disappoint those who are looking for a medal being pulled like a rabbit out of the hat. But for those willing to be patient, there’s a start.

In fact, there’s a much-needed progress too, as the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo will see two sprinters — Animesh Kujur (200m) and Tejas Shirse (110m hurdles) — represent India for the first time. The duo has more in common than one may think as they have come out of the same programme that kicked off in Odisha under Reliance’s British coach James Hillier in 2019.

Hillier, who now serves as the athletic director and oversees the programme in Bhubaneswar and Mumbai, has been in hot pursuit to rope in the best of sprint talents the country has produced in the last half a decade and nurtured them into consistent performers. The list includes Telangana’s hurdler Jyothi Yarraji and Karnataka’s sprinter Manikanta Hoblidhar, among others.

Call it coincidence or hard work, most of India’s fastest timings in the events have come in the last three seasons. The British coach — who is supported by a team of other expert coaches, nutritionists and physiotherapists — essentially brought in the change in mindset of these young runners.

“When I arrived, I soon understood that Indian athletes were not running enough,” Hillier told DH. “Call it lack of exposure, funds or habit, they may not run more than five competitions in a season. That had to change and I had to urge them gradually to run more.”

Animesh leads the show

The star of the programme has been Animesh, who became the fastest man in the country in 2025 with national records in both 100m and 200m (10.18 and 20.32 seconds respectively). The Odisha athlete, who has been coached by Martin Owens at the same institution since 2023, has run 30-odd individual races since February 2025, and at least eight of them were faster than his last season’s best efforts in both the sprint events.

This also notably included his best effort of 20.27 in Switzerland back in June, which wasn’t eligible for the national record due to a strong tailwind assist. What stood out that his best always came in foreign conditions, going against the norms of Indian athletes doing well in friendly conditions. The likes of Neeraj Chopra and Avinash Sable are the exceptions. The 22-year-old Animesh, of course, joins that list too.

“For me to be faster than I am now, I must compete in quality events abroad,” said Animesh. “India has a lot of quality sprinters now, and the facilities I get in Bhubaneshwar are top-notch too, but the best runners are all abroad. I may not run as fast as them, but I will only improve.”

Like Animesh, Tejas has been a trailblazer in his event as well. The 23-year-old Maharashtra hurdler holds both the indoor (7.64 in the 60m H in 2025) and outdoor (13.41 in 2024) national records, eclipsing Siddhant Thingalaya, who dominated the hurdles for at least the last half-decade. Tejas, who could only run 12 races in the 2025 season due to injury, earned a World Athletics invitation at the last moment. The Tokyo ticket meant everything to the youngster, who couldn’t make the cut for the Olympics last season.

Reality check

“This season was a turbulent one for me as it kept going up and down for me due to injury, but when I was finally given the berth, I felt all the hard work I did over the last two seasons came to fruition after missing Paris,” said Tejas, whose current World Ranking is 63.

But does running in the upcoming Worlds put them anywhere near the medal chances on debut? Especially when Animesh failed to breach the direct qualification timing. His coach Owens who leads the High Performance Centre of the programme, gives the reality check.

“It’s a step-up from the Asian Championships (Animesh won bronze with his current NR),” said Owens. “It’s also a lot of the same people he interacted with in the Diamond League in Monaco (finished fourth among U-23 runners), but it’s a different set-up because that’s just one day, and this is a championship. There’s more at stake here. People take this a lot more seriously. It’s a great opportunity for him to see what the most professional, most successful athletes in the world are doing and bring that back to India.”

To put his perspective into context, the world-leading time for the season is currently with the USA’s superstar Noah Lyles at 19.63. World record, for that matter, lies with the legend Bolt at 19.19 (at 2009 Worlds). As far as the 110m hurdles are concerned, USA’s Cordell Tinch leads the chart at 12.87, which is 0.07 off the world record mark.

So how are the likes of Animesh and Tejas going to approach the respective 48-man event, which starts with qualification heats to eventually into an 8-athlete showdown?

Tejas Shirse became the second hurdler to qualify for World Championships since Siddhant Thingalaya in 2017. Reliance

Animesh Kujur is the fastest man in India with national records in both 100m and 200m. 

The answer may disappoint the fans who would be expecting magical results when the duo takes the tracks mid-September in Tokyo. It seems to be a long road for India before we see our first sub-10 or sub-20 runners in sprint events, but there’s hope, and Hillier sums it up better.

“I intend to treat the heat as a virtual final if I intend to survive for the semifinal,” said Tejas. “Which is the reality, to be frank. Irrespective of the fact that this season hasn’t been ideal fitness-wise, I am keeping the mindset that I will go all out for my season best or better a personal
best.”

“When I came here, I was told Indians can’t run faster than 10.20, but now I am hearing questions of ‘when will we see our first sub-10 runner?’ I call that progress,” signed off the coach.

Highlights - Animesh Kujur's best performances200m20.27 sec (Geneva, June 2025)*20.32 (Gumi, Korea, June) - NR20.40 (Kochi, April)Previous NR - 20.52 by Amlan Borgohain (2022)WR - 19.19 by Usain Bolt (2009)*Not eligible for NR due to +2.3 wind assist 100m10.18 (Vari, Greece, July 2025) - NR10.27 (Salamanca, Spain, 2024) 10.28 (Dehradun, Feb 2025)Previous NR - 10.20 by Gurindervir Singh (March, 2025)WR - 9.58 by Usain Bolt in 2009 Tejas Shirse's best performances110m hurdles13.41 sec (Jyvaskyla, Finland, 2024) - NR13.51 (Leuven, Belgium, August 2025)13.52 (Taipei City, June 2025) Previous NR - 13.48 by Siddhanth Thingalaya (2017)WR - 12.80 by Aries Merritt (2012) 60m hurdles7.64 (Miramas, France, Feb 2025) - NR7.65 (Luxembourg, Jun 2025)7.66 (Val-del-Ruil, France, Feb 2025)Previous NR - 7.70 by Siddhanth Thingalaya (2017)WR - 7.27 by Grant Holloway (2024) NR: National record; WR: World record

Animesh Kujur’s best performances 200m

20.27 sec (Geneva June 2025)*  20.32 (Gumi Korea June) - NR  20.40 (Kochi April) Previous NR - 20.52 by Amlan Borgohain (2022) WR - 19.19 by Usain Bolt (2009) *Not eligible for NR due to +2.3 wind assist 100m  10.18 (Vari Greece July 2025) - NR  10.27 (Salamanca Spain 2024)  10.28 (Dehradun Feb 2025) Previous NR - 10.20 by Gurindervir Singh (March 2025) WR - 9.58 by Usain Bolt in 2009

Tejas Shirse’s best performances 110m hurdles

13.41 sec (Jyvaskyla Finland 2024) - NR  13.51 (Leuven Belgium August 2025)  13.52 (Taipei City June 2025) Previous NR - 13.48 by Siddhanth Thingalaya (2017) WR - 12.80 by Aries Merritt (2012) 60m hurdles  7.64 (Miramas France Feb 2025) - NR  7.64 (Val-del-Ruii France Feb 2025)  7.65 (Luxembourg. Jun 2025) Previous NR - 7.70 by Siddhanth Thingalaya (2017) WR - 7.27 by Grant Holloway (2024)