‘Our main target was to set a record’: Animesh Kujur after winning gold in Khelo India University Games

JAIPUR: Olympian and 100m, 200m national record holder Animesh Kujur ended the competition for Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) on a high as he led his team to a new 4x100m meet record with a time of 40.09 seconds.

On winning a gold medal in the 4×100 metre relay race in Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2025, Animesh Kujur said, “…Our main target was to set a record and luckily we set a record at the Khelo India University Games 2025. I am pleased with the performance of the team.”

#WATCH | Jaipur, Rajasthan | On winning a gold medal in the 4*100 metre relay race in Khelo India University Games 2025, Animesh Kujur says, “…Our main target was to set a record and luckily we set a record at the Khelo India University Games 2025. I am pleased with the… pic.twitter.com/AMANp9dhI2

— ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2025

Silver medal winners Mahatma Gandhi University also equalled the previous KIUG record of 40.76s, held by Mangalore University. Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology’s Samardeep Singh Gill improved on his own All India University (AIU) mark in men’s Shot Put in the Khelo India University Games, Rajasthan 2025, at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.

Shot putter Samardeep, who has beaten two-time Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor thrice this year, hurled the shot put to a distance of 19.42m on his second attempt to claim the gold medal, while the second-place finisher Aniket of Guru Kashi University could only manage to clear a distance of 18.08m.

The previous AIU record (18.76m) and KIUG record (18.75m) holder, Samardeep, has been in exceptional form this year, throwing consistently above 19 metres, and repeated that feat in Jaipur.

Samardeep’s teammate, Isha Chander Prakash, eclipsed the KIUG record in the heptathlon with a score of 4857. Isha had taken a sizeable lead over her opponents after the first four events on Wednesday and maintained the advantage on Thursday to improve on the previous record by 109 points. The earlier record was held by Sonu Kumari of Lovely Professional University.

Olympian and 100m, 200m national record holder Animesh Kujur then ended the competition for KIIT on a high as he led his team to a new 4x100m meet record with a time of 40.09 seconds. Silver medal winners Mahatma Gandhi University also equalled the previous KIUG record of 40.76s, held by Mangalore University.

In Udaipur, Chandigarh University added seven gold medals on the last day of Canoe and Kayaking action at the Fateh Sagar Lake to finish with 23 gold, one silver and one bronze in the discipline. Guru Kashi University was the second-best contingent, with three gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals.

In the men’s football final at Poornima University, University of Calicut defeated Guru Nanak Dev University 5-4 in the shoot-out after a goalless score-line in regulation time.

The fifth edition of KIUG 2025 is being held across seven cities in Rajasthan. A whopping 4448 athletes from 222 Universities are competing in 23 medal disciplines. The Games are being held under the aegis of the Sports Authority of India in collaboration with the Rajasthan State Sports Council and are being hosted by Poornima University.

With just one day of competition left, Chandigarh University extended its lead at the top of the medals table to 41 by bagging seven gold medals in Canoe and Kayaking on Thursday. While Chandigarh University dominated the Canoe and Kayaking events, three new records were made in athletics to take the total to 12 over four days. (ANI)