FULL NAME: Animesh Kujur
GENDER: Male
DATE OF BIRTH: 2 June 2003 (Source: Athletics Federation of India and World Athletics)
PARENTS: Father (Amrit Kujur), Mother ()
ORIGINAL HOME ADDRESS: Ghuitangar village, Jashpur district, Chhattisgarh, India
PRESENT ADDRESS: Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION: Studied at Sainik School, Ambikapur. Reported to have studied BSc Computer Science and engineering in Raipur. Now studies at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar.
PROFESSION: Serves as a forest guard in the Forest Department, Government of Chhattisgarh Government, under sports quota since 2022.
TYPE OF ATHLETE: 100m and 200m sprinter
HOME CLUB/ACADEMY: Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre, Bhubaneswar.
TRAINING PLACE: Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar
RECEIVED COACHING FROM: Dinesh Tandi (First coach), Martin Ownens and James Hillier
PERSONAL BEST: 10.39 seconds in 100m and 20.32 seconds in 200m
TEAMS/UNITS REPRESENTED: Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Odisha-Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC and India

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS:

NATIONAL:
*     Won 2 Gold medals (1 each with meet record in 4x100m relay and 200m sprint) in the 64th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championship, held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai from 20-24 August 2025. He also become the first Indian male sprinter to qualify for the World Athletics Championships.
*     Won one Gold and one Silver medals in mens 200m and 100m respectively at the 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition, held at Maharajas College Stadium in Kochi from 21-24 April 2025. Also created New National Record in 200m sprint, clocking 20.40s.
*     Won 3 Gold medals (1 each in mens 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay *NGR) in the 38th National Games at Maharana Pratap Sports College Stadium in Dehradun, Uttarakhand between 8-11 Feb 2025. He also equaled the Games record of 10.28 seconds in 100m.
*     Won 2 Gold medals (mens 100m and 200m) with meet records of 10.38s (semifinals) and 20.65s (final) at the 4th Indian Open U-23 Athletics Competition, held at Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna, Bihar from 28-30 Sept 2024. He also bagged the award as the Best Male Athlete.
*     Won the 4x100m relay Gold medal in the 63rd National Open Athletics Championships at Sree Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bangalore on 1 September 2024.
*     Won the 2 Gold medals (One each in mens 200m with New Meet Record and 4x100m relay) and 1 Silver medal in 100m run in the 63rd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championship, held at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula, Haryana from 27-30 June 2024.
*     Won one Gold and one Silver medal in 200m and 100m respectively in the the 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition, held at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar from 12-15 May 2024.
*     Secured first positions in both mens 100m and 200m events at the Indian Grand Prix-1, held at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore on 30 April 2024.
*     Won one Gold medal for Odisha-Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC in the 1st National Open Relay Carnival in Chandigarh on 24 March 2024.
*      Won the Bronze medal for Odisha in men 200m event of the 37th National Games at the Athletics Stadium in Bambolim, Goa 2 November 2023.
*     Won the men 200m Gold medal with new meet record of 28.87 for Odisha in the 3rd National Open U-23 Athletics Championships at Sports Complex, Chandigarh on 22 October 2023.
*     Won the 200m Gold medal for Odisha with New Meet Record of 20.74s at the 62nd National Open Athletics Championships at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru on 14 October 2023. He bettered the previous meet record of 20.75 seconds, which had been set by Amlan Borgohain (Assam) in 2021.
*     Won the 200m Silver medal for Chhattisgarh at the 26th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships on 18 May 2023.
*     Won one Silver and Bronze medal each for Chhattisgarh in 200m and 100m respectively in the Indian Grand Prix-4 at Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore on 16 April 2023.

INTERNATIONAL:
*     Finished a disappointing ninth and last in his 200m hits, clocking 20.77 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on 17 September 2025. He, however, became the first-ever Indian male sprinter to compete in the World Championships.
*     Won the first position in mens 200m run at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze Competition at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on 10 August 2025.
*     He was part of the Indian mens 4x100m relay team that clinched the Gold medal in the Taiwan Athletics Open at Taipei Municipal Stadium in Taipei City, Taiwan on 7 June 2025.
*     Won the mens 200m Bronze medal with Personal best of 20.32s at the 26th Asian Athletics Championship in Gumi, South Korea on 31 May 2025. He also broke his own National Record of 20.40s.
*     Won the mens 200m Silver medal, 20.96 seconds at the B&S Kurpfalz Gala Weinheim Athletics competition in Frankfurt, Germany on 18 May 2024.

MISCELLANEOUS:
*     Secure First positions in both mens 100m Race-A and 200m Race-D events of the Indian Athletics Grand Prix-2, held at LNCPE, Trivandrum on 17 May 2025.
*     Won the Gold medal with National Record for Reliance HPC in mens 4X100m relay event of the 2nd Indian Open Relay Carnival 2025, held at the Sector-7 Sports Complex in Chandigarh on 30 April 2025.
*     Secured First position in mens 200m Race B of the Indian Open Athletics Meet at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on 15 April 2025.

OTHER IMPORTANT DATA:
*     He was conferred with the Biju Patnaik Sports Award 2024 as the Best Sportsperson of the Year, along with Rs 3 lakh by the Government of Odisha in Bhubaneswar on 29 August 2025.
*     On 29 August 2029, he was jointly felicitated by Odisha Olympic Association and Odisha Athletics Association with a total cash award Rs 1 lakh for becoming the first-ever male sprinter of the country to qualify for World Athletics Championships 2025.
*     On 13 June 2025, Odisha Sports Minister Suryabanshi Suraj felicitated him with a cash award of Rs 2.5 lakh on winning the Bronze medal in mens 200m at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025.
*    Represented Odihsa for the first time at the 62nd National Open Athletics Championships 2023 in Bengaluru.
*     Animesh is the son of parents who are both in the police.
*     His father is a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
*     He has a younger brother, named Aniket Kujur.
*     Animesh played football during his childhood and school days.
*     He switched over to athletics during COVID-19 pandemic.
*     Wearing normal shoes, he won the 200m race at the 2021 West Zone Junior Athletics Championship in Raipur with a timing of 22.31s.
*     In 2022, he took part in the National Open U-23 Championships in Bilaspur and won the 200m race for Chhattisgarh in 21.12s.
*     It was at this meet that he met Martin Owens, the Head Coach at the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC.

PROFILE FIRST UPLOADED: 16 October 2023
PROFILE LAST UPDATED: 17 September 2025