Four months after setting national record of 20.32 seconds, Animesh Kujur wasn’t able to repeat his performance in Chennai

On his way to winning Asian championships bronze in men’s 200m in the South Korean city of Gumi, India’s promising sprinter Animesh Kujur improved his national record to 20.32 seconds. Nearly four months later at 64th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in Chennai on Saturday, he crossed the finish line to stop the clock at 20.63 seconds.

All eyes are on Kujur as he will be the first Indian sprinter to compete in the World championships in Tokyo from September 13. Kujur is on track to qualify for the Worlds through the world ranking quota system.

Even as micro fractions of a second count in global sprinting, Kujur is slightly off his personal best. His selection for the Worlds will depend on the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee.

World Athletics

Will Kujur script history on his debut at the World Athletics Championships, which began way back in 1980s? 

Kujur, 22, like other top athletes who competed in Chennai, may argue that simce there was no intense competition to push him, he couldn’t come close to his personal best. Also, weather conditions in Chennai wasn’t conducive for sprinting.

Nonetheless, Kujur will have to raise the bar when he competes at the next month’s World Athletics Championships. The men’s 200m first round is scheduled on September 17.

Automatic qualification

The automatic qualification time in men’s 200m for the Worlds is 20.16 seconds. Top 48 sprinters will be eligible to compete in Japan as per the qualification criteria set by World Athletics—the global governing body for track and field.

Since the global standard is very high in 200m, thirty-one athletes will qualify for the Worlds by achieving the entry standard. To encourage sprinters across the globe, the remaining 16 positions will be filled through world ranking quota, Road to Tokyo, guidelines set by World Athletics.

Road to Tokyo

To put things in perspective, it will be challenging for Kujur to make it to the second round in Tokyo. His current world ranking is 45th on Road to Tokyo. As per World Athletics, Kujur’s average performance scores in five competitions from April to June is 1210 points.

At the start of the 2025 season, Kujur scripted his name in record books by clocking 20.32 seconds in May. Thereafter, he wasn’t able to repeat his personal best barring a wind-assisted 20.27seconds on June 21 in Geneva.

At the Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar, Kujur had a cautious start. He pulled out of 100m heats to fully concentrate in the 200m event. His winning time of 20.77 seconds indicated he had a lot to catch up to compete in Japan.

Kujur is one of the elite Indian athletes having ample international exposure and specialised training in the last two years.

With just 21 days to go for the mega event in Japan, Kujur and his coaching team will have to do work hard to make his Tokyo outing memorable.

ENDS