Dubai: Mohammed Afsal rewrote the Indian national record in the men’s 800m event at the UAE Athletics Grand Prix 2025, held at the Dubai Police Club Stadium on Saturday.
The 29-year-old middle-distance runner clocked 1 minute 45.61 seconds to finish second in a competitive 10-man field. His timing eclipsed the previous national mark of 1:45.65, set by Jinson Johnson at the 2018 National Inter-State Championships in Guwahati, by a margin of 0.04 seconds. The new record is subject to ratification by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Kenya’s Nicholas Kiplagat won the race in 1:45.38 while Christopher Swart of South Africa finished third with a time of 1:45.84.
Afsal, who had claimed silver at the 2023 Asian Games with a 1:48.43 effort, now holds the distinction of registering the fastest 800m time by an Indian.
In other notable performances, Animesh Kujur continued his impressive form by clinching gold in the men’s 200m with a meet record timing of 20.45s — just 0.05s short of the national record he had set last month at the Federation Cup in Kochi. His run is now the fastest by an Indian on foreign soil in the 200m event.
Chad’s Mahamat Goubaye Youssouf (20.93s) and UAE’s Emmanuel Bamidele (20.97s) took the second and third places, respectively.
Kujur also featured in the Indian men’s 4x100m relay team alongside Gurindervir Singh, Manikanta Hoblidar and Amlan Borgohain. The quartet clocked 38.76s to finish first. The same team had earlier broken the national record at the National Open Relay Carnival in Chandigarh with a 38.69s effort.
In the men’s long jump, David Solomon produced a personal best leap of 7.78m to clinch top honours. Oman’s Al Yerabi (7.61m) and Croatia’s Marko Ceko (7.60m) completed the podium.
Shaili Singh claimed second place in the women’s long jump with a mark of 6.44m, behind Egypt’s Esraa Owis who leapt 6.67m for gold. Ancy Sojan finished third with a jump of 6.33m.
In the men’s 400m, India’s Mohamed Sinan secured second spot with a time of 46.67s. The event was won by the UAE’s Suleiman Abdirahman in 45.66s.
India’s national record holder Gurindervir Singh finished eighth in the men’s 100m final with a timing of 10.41s.
In women’s triple jump, Sawant Poorva finished third with a best effort of 13.09m.
