Archive · 6 Sep 2026
Neil Samraj Sets Indian Under-18 Sprint Record Despite Illness
Neil Samraj is a 17-year-old runner from Coimbatore, India.
He competes in the 100-metre and 200-metre races.
At a championship in Ludhiana, he broke the Indian Under-18 100-metre record twice in one hour.
He first ran 10.53 seconds and then ran 10.46 seconds in the final.
The old record was 10.63 seconds.
Neil had a cold and said he could not recover fully before the final.
He still wanted to run faster than 10.40 seconds.
His coaches are helping him become more consistent as he gets ready for bigger competitions.
Seventeen-year-old Neil Samraj broke India’s Under-18 100-metre record twice in one hour in Ludhiana.
He ran 10.53 seconds in the semifinals and 10.46 seconds in the final.
Samraj said a cold limited his recovery and prevented him from reaching his target of under 10.40 seconds.
His 10.46 replaced the previous national Under-18 record of 10.63 seconds.
He trains with Velmurugan Paul Raj and James Hillier and hopes to win a medal at the Youth Olympics in Dakar.
- Who
- Seventeen-year-old Indian sprinter Neil Samraj.
- What
- He broke the national Under-18 100-metre record twice, finishing with a time of 10.46 seconds.
- When
- Last week, during the National Youth Athletics Championships.
- Where
- Ludhiana, India.
- Why
- Samraj is training to improve his sprinting and eventually win medals for India; he said illness affected his final performance.
- Age
- 17
- Semifinal time
- 10.53 seconds
- Final time
- 10.46 seconds
- Previous record
- 10.63 seconds
- Event
- National Youth Athletics Championships
- Training location
- Unique Sports Academy, Coimbatore
- Olympic goal
- A medal at the Youth Olympics in Dakar