Meet the 17-year-old who broke India's 100m record twice and still wasn't happy

It's very rare, but India may just have found an exciting new sprinting talent, and his name is Neil Samraj.

You may have already seen his name over the past few days after the 17 year old smashed the Indian Under 18 100m record.

It happened on September 1 at the National Youth Athletics Championships in Ludhiana. But rather than simply telling you about the record, we wanted to let you know a little more about who this kid is.

Because his story is quite interesting.

Neil first clocked 10.53 seconds in the semifinal, breaking the previous national record of 10.63 seconds set by Anshu Rajak in 2023.

Then came the final.

Neil went even quicker, clocking a stunning 10.46 seconds to win gold and break the national record he had set earlier in the day.

And the crazy part? He wasn't even happy with it.

Who is Neil Samraj?

Born on January 19, 2009, Neil is a 17 year old sprinter from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu who only took up athletics seriously when he was in Class 9.

His mother Selvarasi, a government school teacher who competed in athletics herself when she was younger, encouraged him to focus on sprinting. His PE teacher also felt he had the potential to do well in the 100m and 200m.

Neil eventually started training under coach Velmurugan, someone he regards more like an elder brother than simply a coach.

His progress since then has been impressive.

He has already represented India at the World U20 Championships, where he was part of the country's 4x100m relay team.

And now, at just 17, he has a national record to his name.

10.46 seconds wasn't enough for Neil

For most 17 year olds, running 10.46 seconds and breaking a national record twice on the same day would probably be enough reason to celebrate.

Not for Neil.

He was suffering from a cold on the day of the race and felt he could have gone even faster.

Speaking after his record breaking performance, Neil admitted that the final was not quite up to his expectations.

That probably tells you plenty about this kid.

At just 17, Neil is already India's fastest ever Under 18 sprinter over 100 metres.

And if 10.46 seconds isn't quick enough for him, it will be interesting to see just how fast he can eventually go.