Indian national record holders Animesh Kujur and Mohammed Afsal Pulikkalakath won their respective events at the Saudi Athletics Grand Prix 2026 in Riyadh on Friday.
Competing at the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Stadium, Afsal won the men’s 800m in 1:48.24, holding off South Africa’s Christopher Swart (1:48.50) and Werner Gouws (1:48.75).
The 30-year-old Afsal, a silver medallist from the the Asian Games 2023, owns the men’s 800m national record of 1:44.93, set in Poland last year.
The Saudi Athletics Grand Prix 2026 is a Bronze level meet on the World Athletics Continental Tour.
Meanwhile, Animesh won the men’s 200m title in 20.77 seconds, finishing ahead of Great Britain’s David Harrison (20.87s) and Toby Harries (21.01s).
Earlier in the day, Animesh clocked 10.44s to finish second in the men’s 100m, just behind Harrison, who won in 10.42s.
Gurindervir Singh, a former 100m Indian national record holder, also ran 10.44s like Animesh but placed third after a photo finish. India’s Pranav Gurav (10.45s) came fourth while Harsh Raut (10.75s) was 11th.
Animesh Kujur holds the Indian national records in both sprint events. Last year, he ran 10.18s in the 100m in Greece after setting the 200m record of 20.32 seconds at the Asian Athletics Championships.
The 22-year-old Indian athlete arrived in Riyadh after completing a sprint double at the Indian Athletics Series in New Delhi last month, where he won both the 100m and 200m races.
India also won the men’s 4x100m relay with a time of 40.49s, ahead of hosts Saudi Arabia (41.89s). Only two of the five entered teams started the race.
Krishik Manjunath clocked 13.90s to finish third in the men’s 110m hurdles. It was the first international competition for the 22-year-old Indian indoor champion in the 60m hurdles.
Shivaji M clocked 8:10.13 for third place in men’s 3000m.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/saudi-athletics-grand-prix-2026-indian-athletes-results
