[Watch] Manikanta Hoblidhar breaks national record in men's 100m at National Open Athletics Championships 2023

Manikanta Hoblidhar from Services smashed a new national record in the men’s 100m category on the opening day of the 62nd National Open Athletics Championships 2023 on Wednesday.

Manikanta sprinted from the third lane in Heat 3 of the Men’s 100m semi-finals. He finished first with a timing of 10.23s en route to his national record, breaking Amiya Kumar Mallick’s previous best of 10.26s set in April 2016.

Indian sprinter Amlan Borgohain clocked 10.25s in the inter-railway athletics championships last year, though it wasn’t ratified. However, the Assam-born athlete’s 10.34s in the National Open in Warangal in 2021 is considered the third-best timing in the men’s 100m.

Manikanta was right in the lead from the rest of the pack while extending the gap as the race progressed. It was a completely dominant show by the Services athlete.

Railways’ Elakkiyadasn K was second with 10.49s, while Saisiddharth R came third with a timing of 10.55s. The youngster for Karnataka has set the tone to achieve new heights at the world level.

Watch the video here:-

In other results of the men's 100m heat, Govind Kumar of Haryana (10.48s) and Jay Shah of Maharashtra (10.47s) ended up first in Heat 1 and Heat 2, respectively.

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Who are the prominent athletes to focus on in the National Open Athletics Championships 2023?

The National Open Athletics Championships is a five-day track and field meet scheduled from October 11 to October 15. With Athletics recording the most number of medals (29) in India's best haul of 107 at Asian Games 2023, star-performers Annu Rani, Jyothi Yarraji, and Kishore Jena will be in action in the Garden City.

Annu won India's first gold medal at the Asiad in the women's javelin throw with her season-best throw of 62.92m, while Kishore, with a personal best of 87.54m, finished second to compatriot and senior man Neeraj Chopra in the men's event.

Meanwhile, Jyothi Yarraji won silver in the women's 100m hurdles after clocking 12.91s despite all the drama surrounding the false start allegations.