Animesh Kujur: India’s Animesh Kujur dedicated the country’s bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m relay at the Asian Games 2026 to the nation, his federation, support systems and family after the team produced a national-record performance in Nagoya on Tuesday.
Reflecting on the race, Kujur said the team’s confidence and motivation had convinced him that a medal was within reach despite the challenging weather conditions.
“Today, there was a lot of rain, and it’s raining daily here, and this was my seventh time running on the track. So, I was confused about how I was going to feel, but I was having a lot of fun at that time because the level at which our team was motivated to go on the track was crazy,” Kujur told IANS.
“I could understand that we were going to win a medal. When Gauri started so well, I understood that we were going to run well. And when Harita finished, I felt so relieved. Like, yeah, finally we did it. Whatever we came here for, we finally did it."
“Because we had prepared for this for the whole year. Today, after receiving the medal, we were like, wow. That moment was so good that I can’t explain it, seriously.”
Kujur, who was part of India’s mixed 4x100m relay quartet along with Gurindervir Singh, Sneha Sathyanarayana and Harita Bhadra, said he wanted to dedicate the medal to everyone who had supported the team.
“I want to dedicate this medal to India first because they were watching live from there and cheering for our team. They said, ‘Come on India, you have to do it.’ When I fell in the relay yesterday, I got a lot of messages from people whom I didn’t even know. They were asking how I was and telling me that I had to run well,” he said.
“Everyone was cheering for me. After that, I want to dedicate this medal to my federation, the Athletics Federation of India. Then to TOPS, Reliance Foundation and Puma.”
“Apart from all this, my family believed in me and believed that I could go so far in sports. I haven’t done that much in sports. My family always thought that if I don’t study, nothing can happen in life. But I moved forward in sports, and today I brought the medal for India. I am so happy. I am so happy. I can’t even explain it, seriously.”
Kujur, who is currently not employed, also expressed his desire to secure a job in the future. “I want to get a job in ONGC, Income Tax, UGP, or in the state government,” he said.
The bronze medal went to Gurindervir, Sneha, Animesh, and Harita of India with 41.06 seconds, who broke the national record of 41.35 seconds set by Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh, and Sneha at World Relays 2026 in Gaborone.
China won gold in 40.78 seconds, while Thailand won silver in 40.87 seconds.
The conditions were not a big problem for the Indian team, said Harita, who had already bagged the bronze in women's 200m earlier in the Games. “First of all, I’m very happy that this is my first Asian Games and that I could come here and win two medals for India, so I’m very happy about that. Regarding the conditions, I feel we were well prepared because we’ve also had training sessions in the rain,” Harita said.
Gurindervir also credited those around him for the medal. “I thank everyone who supported me. This medal has come because of all of them,” he said.
India subsequently signed off their athletics campaign with another bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay.
The quartet of Dharamveer Choudhary, Manu Theekkinil, Jay Kumar and Vishal Thennarasu clocked 3:01.61 to finish third, as Japan won gold in 3:00.75 and Qatar took silver in 3:00.93.
Dharamveer gave India a steady start before Manu took over. Manu was crowded during the second leg and had to move around the field, leaving India fourth when Jay Kumar received the baton.
Jay responded strongly to move India into the medal positions and briefly pushed the team into second before India slipped back to fourth during the final exchange. Vishal then produced a strong closing leg to bring India back into third.
India had entered the final with a season-best 3:00.32, while Japan had a 3:00.19 season-best.
Jay responded strongly to move India into the medal positions and briefly pushed the team into second before India slipped back to fourth during the final exchange. Vishal then produced a strong closing leg to bring India back into third.
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Article Source: IANS