Animesh Kujur and Gurindervir Singh, the trailblazers of Indian 100m sprinting, were humbled at home at the Continental Tour Silver meet in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, August 22.
The result was significant. It was the first time since April 2025, in more than a year, that neither Animesh nor Gurindervir won a race in India. The result, in front of a packed Kalinga Stadium crowd, mostly composed of young students, also meant that their poor results stretched into a second competition.
Animesh and Guri were India’s trailblazers at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Battling chilly conditions and, in Guri’s case, a slight hamstring injury, both runners failed to reach the final of their individual events.
Gurindervir put up a horror show in the men’s 100m sprint, finishing in 10.39 seconds and failing to progress from the heats.
In comparison, Animesh did well in his 200m sprint, qualifying for the semi-final. But an unfortunate Lane 1 in the semis meant that he could not use his height and stride to his advantage, clocking 20.65 seconds and failing to progress to the final.
Animesh’s coach, Martin Owens, rued the fact that it was his mistake that prevented Animesh from reaching the final.
“I should have read the rules better. It was my failure,” Owens lamented before Saturday.
A CHANCE TO RESET AT HOME
What Owens meant was that they should either have run faster in the heats to get out of being placed in Lane 1, or run fast enough in the block before the competition to earn a bye to the semi-finals, which would have given Animesh a better lane at the CWG.
But Odisha did not provide such struggles.
Animesh and Gurindervir were running the 100m sprint. There was no bend that they needed to deal with. The conditions were balmy, with morning showers soothing the temperatures in the evening in the Temple City of India.
Ideal conditions, perhaps, to put in a solid time in the run-up to the Asian Games.
But it wasn’t to be.
Animesh ran 10.32, while Gurindervir clocked 10.39, finishing sixth and eighth respectively among the 12 men who completed the race.
BEATEN ON HOME SOIL
The race was won by South Africa’s 21-year-old Tshepo Jason Tayantini, who ran a solid 10.11 seconds. His personal best before the event was 10.20, slower than both Animesh and Gurindervir.
Speaking right after the event, the young South African said that he knew very well the day before that he was going to win. He had the self-belief to back himself when he saw that the conditions were going to be ideal for sprinting.
Animesh and Gurindervir, on the other hand, said that they were slightly scared of the conditions before the Asian Games.
Gurindervir thought that his start was fantastic, but he was very worried about slipping on the slightly wet track, which played into his mind.
Animesh said that he took a slight stumble while approaching his top speed around the 50m mark, which stopped him from delivering his best.
WHY THE COMPETITION MATTERS
The sprinters, however, would rather have these races than chase each other throughout the year.
“I am happier racing like this. We generally go overseas to race with athletes faster than us, so this was a welcome change,” Animesh said.
“But today, I knew I had to be faster than usual to beat these sub-10 athletes,” he added.
While none of the overseas sprinters went sub-10 seconds, their performances were good enough to push Animesh and Gurindervir down to sixth and eighth, something that has not really happened in India in the last two years.
Owens perhaps put it best.
“Indians have too much training, and too little competition. That has to change. I thank the Odisha government and the Athletics Federation of India for putting up such a nice event before the Asian Games.”
“When faster athletes are brought, our top athletes have to do better to beat them. They will get faster, and in turn the rest of India will. And we would not have to do it by travelling the world, and that is why competitions like these are important.”
A LESSON BEFORE THE ASIAN GAMES
Animesh and Gurindervir will now enter two separate camps, one in India and one in Japan, before the Asian Games.
The Continental Tour Silver meet would have given them a good understanding of the competition they will face. Two of the athletes who raced on Saturday, Ali Al Balushi and Yuki Koike (DNS), are among the 10 fastest men in Asia this season.
The fact that India was able to see both of them train and race puts the country where it wants to be in terms of preparation.
For Animesh and Gurindervir, Saturday was not the race they would have wanted. They came to Bhubaneswar expecting to put down a statement before the Asian Games. Instead, they were beaten convincingly on home soil.
But perhaps that was the statement they needed.
For once, they did not have to travel overseas to find out how much faster they needed to be. The competition came to them, pushed them out of their comfort zone and showed them exactly where they
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