Is India finally on the verge of glimpsing its first sub-10-second man? Premium

Manikanta Hoblidhar aims to break the 100m National record, leading India's sprinters towards sub-10s with impressive performances.

Manikanta Hoblidhar played volleyball, kabaddi and handball to a high standard at school. But once he had a taste of athletics at 17, there was no looking back.

The 23-year-old is currently one of the country’s fastest men, hungry to regain his 100m National record which he had surrendered to Gurindervir Singh (10.20s) by two hundredths of a second (10.22) at the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru a few weeks ago.

Manikanta clearly wants to stand out in the crowd.

“I’m the only one, the best, the strongest. My aim is to do 10.10s this year,” said Manikanta, who took the 100m bronze at the recent National Federation Athletics Championships in Kochi. He also had the championships’ fastest time, having topped the semifinals with 10.25s.

With six of the seven fastest men in the country’s all-time 100m list currently in action, this is Indian sprinting’s most exciting period.

That brings up the big question: Is India close to having its first sub-10s man?

“I expect that next year,” said Radhakrishnan Nair, the National Chief Coach.