Services sprinter Manikanta sets 100m national record

Manikanta Hobildar of Services, on Wednesday, set a new Indian national record for men’s 100m sprint on Wednesday, during the ongoing National Open Athletics Championships at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

The 21-year-old ran a near perfect race as he cruised to victory by a big margin clocking an astonishing 10.23s in the semi-finals. He eclipsed the previous national record held by Odisha’s Amiya Mallick (10.26s), who incidentally ran alongside him in the semi-final heat 3 and finished fourth.

Assam’s Amlan Borgohain had clocked 10.25s in an Inter-Railways athletics meet at Rae Bareli in September last year, but it was not ratified as a national record by the Athletics Federation of India.