Gargi Raut
Indian sprinter Amlan Borgohain has captured the headlines after he broke the men’s 4×100 national record along with teammates, Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur and Manikanta Hoblidhar. The quartet clocked an impressive 38.69 seconds at the Indian Open Relay Competition in Chandigarh, which in turn shattered the record set by the bronze-medal winning national team at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
While Amlan celebrates his historic feat, he remains the only active international-level athlete from Assam. He is using his voice to advocate for better support and infrastructure for grassroots athletes in his home state.
Three national records fell in a month, and you were part of two of them. What’s clicking so well right now?
“Things are going really well. I think the cards are in favour of sprinters this year, everyone’s running fast. The Reliance Foundation has built a great team, bringing together some of the best sprinters in the country at our academy. So I think that’s a big reason why this is happening.”
Breaking a 14-year-old relay record with just one practice? What went behind it?
“That relay record was a big one. Honestly, we didn’t even have proper training for one, two, or even three months. We only had one or two sessions together. After the Federation Cup, we came back to our facility, had just a couple of practices, and just believed in ourselves and each other. That belief really paid off. We were fast enough to break the national record. In fact, I think it’s something that should’ve happened maybe 5 or 10 years ago. But now it’s done. And with more practice and competition, I think we can achieve even more.”
James Hillier (Coach) says this is just the beginning. Do you feel like India’s sprint revolution is finally happening?
“I think it already started back in 2010 when we won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. But then it kind of stopped midway. It picked up again around 2020–2021, when sprinters consistently started clocking 10.3 seconds in competitions. Now we’ve got 10.2 runners too, and it’s a great opportunity. We push each other, learn from each other. Personally, I’ve never seen a sub-10-second race live. To witness that, we need to be part of those competitions. And qualifying for the 100m individual at that level is tough. So the relay is our best shot, just being there and watching those races shows us what the next level really looks like. Breaking the national record was big, and we’re aiming to represent India on an even bigger stage now.”
What’s your next personal goal?
“To get every national record back under my name. That’s the goal.”
About that tweet you posted about Assam, it hit pretty hard. Has anything changed since then?
The support has been okay, but Assam is a big state, and at the last Federation Cup, I was the only international-level athlete competing from there. That made me feel really bad. I kept thinking, where’s the rest of the support going? We need to send more athletes to national competitions. I’m lucky to have the backing of the Reliance Foundation. But Assam needs to invest more in grassroots athletes. There should be more support to help them reach the national stage.
And being the only international athlete from Assam right now, does that feel like a heavy responsibility?
“No, not really. I just want to inspire everyone in the Northeast. It’s not about ‘why me’, I’ve seen so many athletes in my state and across the Northeast who are even more talented. But they lack access to proper facilities, exposure, and support. If we can fix that, then Northeast is going to boom. We’ll be everywhere on the international stage.”
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