Mohammed Afsal Sets New 800m National Record at UAE Grand Prix

Mohammed Afsal Breaks 800m National Record at UAE Athletics Grand Prix 2025

DUBAI: Indian middle-distance runner Mohammed Afsal shattered the national record in the men’s 800 metres at the UAE Athletics Grand Prix 2025, held at the Dubai Police Club Stadium.

Competing in a strong 10-man field on Friday, the 29-year-old Afsal clocked 1:45.61, finishing second behind Kenya’s Nicholas Kiplagat, who won the race with a time of 1:45.38. South Africa’s Christopher Swart took third, clocking 1:45.84. Afsal’s timing beat the previous Indian national record of 1:45.65, held by Jinson Johnson since 2018. This marks a significant achievement for Afsal, who is also a silver medallist at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where he had clocked 1:48.43. The world record in this event is held by David Rudisha of Kenya, who clocked 1:40.91 during his gold-medal-winning run at the 2012 London Olympics.

India’s Animesh Kujur continued his fine form by winning the men’s 200m in 20.45 seconds, just 0.05 seconds shy of his own national record (20.40s) set at last month’s Federation Cup in Kochi. His time in Dubai is now the fastest 200m ever run by an Indian on foreign soil. Kujur also starred in India’s victorious 4x100m men’s relay team, alongside Gurindervir Singh, Manikanta Hoblidar, and Amlan Borgohain. The quartet clocked 38.76 seconds to win the event, continuing their strong form after setting a national record of 38.69 seconds at the National Open Relay Carnival in Chandigarh.

In field events, David Solomon recorded a personal best of 7.78m to win the men’s long jump, ahead of Oman’s Al Yerabi (7.61m) and Croatia’s Marko Ceko (7.60m). In the women’s long jump, Shaili Singh claimed second place with a leap of 6.44m, behind Egypt’s Esraa Owis (6.67m). Fellow Indian athlete Ancy Sojan, a silver medallist at the 2022 Asian Games, finished third with 6.33m.

Gurindervir Singh, India’s 100m national record holder, finished eighth in the men’s 100m with a time of 10.41s. In the men’s 400m, Mohamed Sinan earned silver with 46.67 seconds, behind UAE’s Suleiman Abdirahman, who clocked 45.66 seconds. Sawant Poorva secured third place in the women’s triple jump with a best effort of 13.09m.