Meet the 17-year-old who broke India's 100m record twice and still wasn't happy
It's very rare, but India may just have found an exciting new sprinting talent, and his name is Neil Samraj. You may have already seen his name over the past few days after the 17 year old smashed the Indian Under 18 100m record. It happened on September 1 at the National Youth Athletics Championships in Ludhiana. But rather than simply telling you about the record, we wanted to let you know a…
A 17-year-old sprinter from India named Neil Samraj has made history by breaking the national Under 18 100m record twice in a single day. Neil, born on January 19, 2009, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, began taking athletics seriously in Class 9. His mother, Selvarasi, a former athlete and government school teacher, encouraged him to focus on sprinting. Neil's PE teacher also recognized his potential in the 100m and 200m events. He now trains under coach Velmurugan, whom he sees more as an elder brother.
Neil made waves at the National Youth Athletics Championships in Ludhiana on September 1, clocking 10.53 seconds in the semifinal and then breaking his own record with a time of 10.46 seconds in the final, setting the new national record. Despite this impressive performance, Neil was not satisfied. He had been suffering from a cold on race day and felt he could have run even faster.
After the race, Neil expressed that the final didn't meet his expectations. At just 17 years old, Neil Samraj is now India's fastest ever Under 18 sprinter over 100 meters, and his ambition to improve his times is evident.
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