CHENNAI: Weeks after returning from World U-20 Championships, Tamil Nadu’s Neil Samraj broke the youth national record twice in boys 100m at National Youth Athletics Championships in Ludhiana on Tuesday. The 17-year-old clocked 10.46 seconds in final to bag gold and solidified his position to qualify for the Youth Olympics in Dakar later this year.“I expected 10.30 seconds but could not execute the race as I thought, but I will surely dip below in the upcoming competitions. It was a good learning experience for me at the World U-20 Championships and that helped me in my race here (National meet),” Samraj, who was part of men’s 100m relay at World U-20 competition, told TOI.Samraj shaved 0.17 seconds off the previous youth record, which was held by Anshu Rajak set in 2023. Earlier, in the semifinals on Tuesday, Samraj had clocked 10.53s to break the national youth record for the first time.The youngster took up athletics in Grade 9 and trained under coach Velmurugan, whom he regards as his elder brother. He attributes his success to Velmurugan, who helped him become the athlete he is today. Samraj will next be in action in 200m on Wednesday and will look to produce a similar performance to his 100m run.Meanwhile, T Mrithika, also from TN, surpassed the meet record in girls 100m and came first in the final by registering 11.78
