Asian Games 2026: ‘I won’t make the mistakes I made’ – Sprinter Animesh Kujur is ready for a bigger challenge
Animesh Kujur (Image Credit: Special Arrangement) When Animesh Kujur lined up for the 200m at the India Athletics Series final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi last week, the instruction from his coach was fairly simple: don’t chase the clock.It was late. The priority was to stay injury free, make the arc and finish the race.Kujur won in 20.59 seconds after winning the 100 m in 10.21 seconds. Gurindervir Singh, India’s national 100m record holder, was second in 10.32.The meet was the final home stop before the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. For Kujur, the two wins weren’t so much about him creating another title time as it was about getting through the evening and into the final stages of his preparation.“Coach said time is coming so stay injury free. Don’t push too hard. Just try to be first,” Kujur told TimesofIndia.com after the race. “Just try to make the turn. That’s it. And that’s what I did. I came straight and just kept the pace. And I just finished the race.”He comes to Aichi-Nagoya with a personal best of 10.14 in the 100m and a 200m national record of 20.32, set for the 2025 Asian Championships. He will compete in the 100m, 200m relay.The time of 10.14 came in Wetzlar, Germany in July and remains the second fastest 100m by an Indian, behind Gurindervir’s national record of 10.09. Kujur’s run was also the fastest 100m by an Indian outside the country.
Animesh Kujur (Image Credit: Special Arrangement)
Gurindervir’s 10.09 came at the Federation Cup in Ranchi in May, when the Indian record changed hands repeatedly in a short space of time. Kujur ran 10.15 before Gurindervir claimed the record with 10.09.The two continued to race each other throughout the season. In the series finale in Delhi, Kujur again had the better of the two.Kujur said the competition has changed the way he feels about the 100m.“I’ll say 100, I’m having more fun now because Guri is competing me again and again,” he said.He doesn’t feel the same competition in the two hundred.“In 200, there is not as much competition in India as it should be,” he said. “But when you have competition, you enjoy running fast.”The Asian Games will give him enough.
A tougher sprint field awaits in Aichi-Nagoya
Japan’s Shuhei Tada and Yuki Koike are listed in the men’s 100 m. Tada has a personal best of 10.01 while Koike ran 10.06. Both are part of Japan’s Asian Games sprint team.The wider Asian field has also produced several sub-10.10 performances this season, with Japan’s Rikuto Higuchi at 10.01 and other Japanese sprinters around 10.03-10.04. Gurindervir’s 10.09 and Kujur’s 10.14 put the Indian pair firmly in this group.200m is an even tougher proposition on paper.Japan’s Soshi Mizukubo ran 20.07 this season to win the Japanese national title. Thailand’s Puripol Boonson broke the national record of 20:03 while Kujura’s Indian record remains at 20:32.Kujur’s own 2026 200m season was less spectacular than his record-breaking 2025, but that hasn’t changed how he sees the event.Earlier in the year, he qualified for the Asian Games with a 20.74 at the National Interstate Championships, a time comfortably inside the qualifying mark but well off his national record of 20.32.
The clock no longer rules Kujur’s races
From then on, he thought less about achieving a certain time in each race.In 2024, Kujur said, he spent the entire season around 20.5 and 20.6. Then came 20:40 at the 2025 Senior Federation Cup, followed by 20:32 at the Asian Championships.
Animesh Kujur won the 200m bronze medal at the 2025 Asian Championships (Image credit: Special Arrangement)
“So if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen,” he said. “No matter how hard you push, the conditions should be like this, the competition should be like this, and the atmosphere should be like this. And it’s all about the day.”There is a similar change in his 100m target.The conversation around Kujura once centered on whether he could break 10 seconds. Kujur pushed his own goal further.“No, I’m not thinking about 10 flat, I’m thinking about running 9 right now,” he said.Even after finishing 10.21, he felt that there was more.“Even today when I stood at 10:16, I thought this is not a 10:16 race,” he said. “So it’s okay, if it’s going to come, it’s going to come.
Lessons learned from his first international campaign
What matters now is getting the body to the right point. Kujur’s first major international experience came at the 2025 Asian Championships where he won bronze in the 200m. He says he was under pressure as he was officially representing India for the first time.He doesn’t expect that feeling to return in Japan.“And I won’t make the mistakes I made at the Asian Championships again,” he said. “Because I was the first international. I was officially representing India. And I was under pressure because of that.”Since then, he has competed in World Championships, the Continental Tour and other international competitions. His coach also encouraged him to use these races to experiment.“With the LA Olympics coming up (the coaches told me), don’t miss any chance to make a mistake. And our ultimate goal is the LA Olympics,” Kujur said.
Learning when to push – and when to back off
The Asian Games therefore come after a season in which Kujur learned more about managing the work around the races.This will be especially important in Aichi-Nagoya. Kujur says the heat and humidity will be nothing new to him.“Yes, it’s the same conditions where I train. Same humidity, same heat,” he said. “And I raced at the World Championships last time. So I have an idea of how to keep my body in there and how to keep things going.”“I know what shape I’m in, how my body behaves, when to take the body, when to peak, when to cut back, everything we’ve learned over the last year, how to maintain everything,” he said.There is also a substantial support system behind the preparation of Kujura.
Animesh Kujur with Martin Owens (Image Credit: Special Arrangement)
“I have a lot of people backing me like Reliance, Urida government, then TOPS, Athletics Federation of India and others and Puma, they never let me down,” he said. “Everyone wants me to improve, in every area, whether it’s performance, peace of mind or whatever. As a normal human being, everyone wants me to improve.”The expectations he carries into his first Asian Games are also different from those he had at the Asian Championships.
‘I know I’ll do well’
He has already won the Asian medal. Now he wants to win one at a bigger multi-sport event.“Success in the Asian Games will be the moment of my life because I have never won a medal in such a big game,” he said.When asked which of the 100m, 200m and relay races he considered his best medal opportunity, he did not choose a single one.“Definitely a shot at a medal,” Kujur said. “I won all three.