Animesh Kujur breaks 100m national record, qualifies for CWG 2026

Animesh Kujur reclaimed the men's 100m national record with a time of 10.15s at the Federation Cup 2026, qualifying for the Commonwealth Games. He beat Gurindervir Singh, who had briefly broken the record in an earlier heat.

Animesh Kujur Sets New 100m National Record

Animesh Kujur broke the 100 m national record in men's competition at the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition 2026 in Ranchi on Friday.

Competing in the semifinals of the 100 m men's competition, it was 25-year-old Gurindervir Singh who first broke Animesh's national record of 10.18s, which was set last year, with timings of 10.17 s in the first semis heat. But in the next semis heat, the 22-year-old Animesh took back his record with timings of 10.15 s.

He also breached the 10.16 s mark set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for qualification to the Commonwealth Games, as per Olympics.com.

The men's 100m final will feature a direct showdown between Animesh and Gurindervir on Saturday.

The Federation Cup is one of India's premier athletics competitions, and will be a lone selection trial for the Commonwealth Games 2026, scheduled from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow, Scotland. With each country only supposed to send a total of 32 track-and-field athletes for CWG 2026, the AFI had laid down strict qualification standards for events. In 100 m, the athletes need to do better than the national record to qualify.

Other Highlights from Day 1

The opening day also featured the finals of 10000m, hammer throw and women's long jump.

Asian Games silver medallist Ancy Sojan finished at the top of the women's long jump field with a personal best of 6.75m, with Shaili Singh (6.58m) and Bhavani Yadav (6.39m) at second and third respectively.

Shifting focus to women's discus throw, Seema breached the entry standard of 56.85 m for CWG 2026, achieving a distance of 57.29 m to finish at the first spot, followed by Nidhi Rani (55.05m) and Krishna Jayasankar (55.00m).

Federation Cup athletics 2026: Day 1 winners

Men's 10000m

(CWG qualification - 27:39.03): 1. Deepak Bhatt (29:42.93s); 2. Shailesh Khushwaha (29:57.56s); 3. Prashant Chaudhary (30:36.97s)

Women's 10000m

(CWG qualification - 31:14.14): 1. Ravina Gayakwad (35:30.98s); 2. Soniya (36:16.22s); Aarti Pawara (36:24.79s)

Men's hammer throw

(CWG qualification - 73.09m): 1. Ashish Jakhar (68.52m); 2. Damneet Singh (67.62m); Ajay Kumar (64.93m)

Women's long jump

(CWG qualification - 6.84m): 1. Ancy Sojan (6.75m); 2. Shaili Singh (6.58m); 3. Bhavani Yadav (6.39m)

Women's discus

(CWG qualification - 56.85m): 1. Seema (57.29m); 2. Nidhi Rani (55.05m); 3. Krishna Jayasankar (55.00m)

Men's 3000m steeplechase

(CWG qualification - 8:30.26s): 1. Balkishan (8:56.01s); 2. Sharuk Khan (8:56.63s); 3. Sunil Jinabhai (8:58.3s)

Women's 3000m steeplechase

(CWG qualification - 9:27.41s): 1. Ankita (9:48.16s); 2. Prachi Devkar (10:16.29s); 3. Anju (10:28.23s).

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