Manikanta Hoblidhar played volleyball, kabaddi and handball to a high standard at school. But once he had a taste of athletics at 17, there was no looking back.
The 23-year-old is currently one of the country’s fastest men, hungry to regain his 100m National record which he had surrendered to Gurindervir Singh (10.20s) by two hundredths of a second (10.22) at the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru a few weeks ago.
Manikanta clearly wants to stand out in the crowd.
“I’m the only one, the best, the strongest. My aim is to do 10.10s this year,” said Manikanta, who took the 100m bronze at the recent National Federation Athletics Championships in Kochi. He also had the championships’ fastest time, having topped the semifinals with 10.25s.
With six of the seven fastest men in the country’s all-time 100m list currently in action, this is Indian sprinting’s most exciting period.
The big question
That brings up the big question: Is India close to having its first sub-10s man?
“I expect that next year,” said Radhakrishnan Nair, the National Chief Coach.
Martin Owens, head coach at the Reliance Foundation Odisha High Performance Centre, was more cautious.
“Sub-10 is big, it will happen. Next year might be a little bit early, but you never know, it might even this year. But never make a prediction,” said the Englishman. “I would be surprised if the 100m National record doesn’t go again this year.”
And the athletes appear ready.
“We will have our first sub-10 man this year or next year. It could come by the time of this year’s Open Nationals. And I feel I will be doing the 9.99s in India,” said Manikanta.
Animesh Kujur, who broke the 200m National record in Kochi, fancies his sub-10 chances, too.
“It’ll be me only, I’m the best,” said Owens’ trainee Kujur, the sixth fastest Indian ever (10.27). “I’m working hard for that. Whenever it is to happen, it will happen.”
James Hillier, the Reliance Foundation athletics director who coaches Gurindervir and Manikanta, is impressed with the current scene.
“What you’re having now is a sort of cluster effect, with the boys pushing each other and I think the biggest thing is the mindset. The mindset is slowly changing,” he said.
Don’t count me out: Animesh Kujur, who set the 200m National record recently, fancies his chances of breaking the 10-second barrier in the shorter sprint. ‘Whenever it is to happen, it will happen,’ he says. | Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin
“When I first came to India, 10.5s would win the Nationals. And when someone ran 10.4, everyone would go crazy. People are starting to run 10.2 and it’s becoming more normal now, 10.3 is normal too, but 10.4 is not even considered that fast anymore.”
Hillier believes things will move step by step.
“I think you’ll see multiple athletes comfortably running sub-10.20. I expected Manikanta to run at least 10.15 in Kochi. He has been running times in training that signal to me that he can run faster than 10.1… 10.0-something. If the track was faster, if the warm-up area and conditions were better, he would have clocked 10.10. For me, 10.25 was disappointing.
“I would be mortified and disappointed if these guys, all three [Gurindervir, Manikanta, Kujur], don’t run 10.1-something this year. And they will probably pull Pranav Gurav [Federation Nationals 100m champion with 10.27s] to those times as well. You could have four guys under 10.10. And don’t discount Amlan [Borgohain] either… he’s flying in training.”
Stronger together
Hillier feels the sprinters now need to move ahead together.
“For me, the second guy is the important one. The first guy breaks the time, that’s great but then you need the second guy to run the time. As soon as Gurindervir broke Mani’s record, Mani said to me, ‘Coach, he’s going to borrow that record for three weeks, I’m going to take it back in the Federation Nationals’.
“And Animesh wasn’t in that Bengaluru race. So, when they broke that record, suddenly Animesh got excited… and he broke the 200m record [in Kochi].
“They motivate each other. They all want to be the top dog…so the minute someone does that time, they are like, ‘If you can do it, I can do it faster’.”
Every sprinter in the group is unique.
“I don’t know much about Pranav Gurav but he’s got a good head on him, he’s a good competitor. Gurindervir is a very powerful guy, he’s got a very good start, I’m just working on some postural things, he doesn’t hold his posture as well as I want, so once he fixes that, he’s going to run a lot faster,” said Hillier.
“Animesh is not a very good starter but a very good finisher. He’s a 200m specialist but obviously he can run a good 100. Amlan is very experienced but Manikanta is the one with the leg speed, it’s phenomenal. He’s the guy with the real speed.”
Who is likely to hit sub-10 first?
“It’s difficult to say that. I wouldn’t want to do that because I coach most of them…I’d be happy if anyone did that, even if it is someone I don’t coach. For me, it’s about the event moving forward,” said Hillier. “I want to see people who say that Indians can’t sprint eat their words because I believe Indians can sprint.”
While the sprinters have been raising the bar, there is much disappointment that the Athletics Federation of India did not include Manikanta in the 100m for this month-end’s Asian Championships in South Korea despite the sprinter achieving the AFI’s qualification standard (10.25s) twice, in Bengaluru and Kochi.
“Had he finished first or second, he would have been considered,” explained Radhakrishnan, who thinks Pranav Gurav could be the first Indian to go sub-10.
Hillier feels the sprinters deserve more support. “It’s very frustrating, disappointing, I don’t know why the federation isn’t supporting these boys as much as we would like. We weren’t aware that the policy was the first to pass the post gets in, that was never communicated. Mani is absolutely heartbroken,” he said.
Throwing his hat in the ring: Pranav Gurav shocked a strong field to win gold at the National Federation Athletics Championships in Kochi, proving he is among India’s fastest 100m sprinters. | Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin
“It is harsh. I respect the tough standards, it is good, but if you have tough standards, then you got to give us good conditions, good tracks and good competitions to race.”
Unlocking the next level
For India to go under 10s, ideal conditions must be offered.
“To go to the next level, they need to compete overseas… competitions where it’s set up to run fast. A Mondo track, proper warm-up area and run at the right time of the day with good winds,” said Hillier.
“We need to find where the three fastest tracks in India are and put sprint meets on them. Chennai and Bengaluru have good tracks. Let’s bring overseas athletes here if we want to do it in India.
“And let’s not run into headwinds. If there’s a headwind, let’s do it on the back straight, that’s how they do it in America. Let’s create the environment for these guys to run under 10s.”
With the sprinters moving at such a promising pace, clearly it’s time to move mountains to help them.
Published – May 02, 2025 11:26 pm IST
