Birsa Munda Stadium, Ranchi | Federation Cup 2026 | May 22, 2026
Indian athletics has seen landmark moments before. But what unfolded in the men’s 100 metres at Federation Cup 2026 on Thursday evening may never be seen again.
In the space of a few extraordinary minutes, the Indian national record in the men’s 100 metres was broken twice — by two different athletes — in consecutive heats. The Birsa Munda Stadium crowd had barely finished processing one piece of history before another rendered it obsolete.
Gurindervir Makes History — Briefly
First came Gurindervir Singh. Exploding out of the blocks and burning down the track, he crossed the line in a stunning 10.17 seconds — a new Indian national record. For that brief, electric moment, Gurindervir Singh was the fastest Indian man in history. The stadium erupted. A record that sprinters chase for careers had just fallen, right here in Ranchi.
He had done it. India had a new 100m national record holder.
Then the next heat began.
Animesh Kujur: The Record-Breaker’s Record-Breaker
Animesh Kujur took to the track moments later — and proceeded to make Gurindervir’s historic run feel like a warm-up act. Animesh tore through the finish line in 10.15 seconds, slicing two hundredths of a second off the brand new national record and claiming it for himself before the ink had even dried.
Two heats. Two national records. One of the most astonishing sequences in the history of Indian sprinting.
The Shortest-Lived National Record?
Gurindervir Singh’s tenure as India’s fastest man ever must rank among the briefest in the history of national athletics records anywhere in the world. He had the record for as long as it took Animesh Kujur to run 100 metres. In most circumstances, breaking a national record is a career-defining moment — something an athlete carries proudly for years. Gurindervir will carry the knowledge that he broke it, even if the record itself was gone almost before he could celebrate.
It is simultaneously one of the cruelest and most magnificent things that athletics can produce.
What This Means for Indian Sprinting
Step back from the drama for a moment and the magnitude of what happened becomes even clearer. Two Indian athletes ran sub-10.20 in the same session, at a domestic championship, on the same evening. That is not a fluke. That is a generation of sprinters arriving simultaneously — athletes who have been training at a different level and are now delivering on the biggest stages.
Indian sprinting has long been viewed as a developing frontier. On Thursday evening in Ranchi, it stopped developing and simply arrived.
A Night Nobody Will Forget
Gurindervir Singh ran 10.17 seconds and broke the national record. Animesh Kujur ran 10.15 seconds and took it away. Both men made history on the same night, at the same stadium, in front of the same crowd.
In a sport measured in hundredths of a second, this was a story measured in moments — and it will be told for a very long time.
Federation Cup 2026 runs from May 22–25 at Birsa Munda Stadium, Ranchi.