Anil Kumar Prakash is a prominent name in the arena of Indian sports, known as an Indian sprint athlete. He hails from Kerala and presently holds the 100 metres national record of 10.30 s which he set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet organized in New Delhi on 24th August 2005. He is also the national record holder for 200 metres covered in 20.73 s which he made at the National Circuit Athletic Meet that took place on 17 July 2000 in Bengaluru. He has represented the country in 4 x 100 metres relay at 2000 Sydney Olympics in which his team, in the first round, clocked a time of 40.23 s. The team ranked seventh in their heats.
Early Life of Anil Kumar Prakash
Anil Kumar Prakash was born on 28th August 1978 in Haripad in the state of Kerala. He attended T. K. Madhava Memorial (TKMM) College in Nangiarkulangara, Alappuzha district . During his college days he took up decathlon. Inspired by the success of P. T. Usha he later decided to compete in the 400 m hurdles. However eventually he discovered his inclination towards running fast which finally led him to sprint events.
Career of Anil Kumar Prakash
Anil Kumar Prakash tasted his first success in the year 1997 at Gandhinagar Open Nationals in which he was accredited as the fastest man in India. Following this he spent some time away from the field owing to some injury. He achieved his next major success in the year 1999 in Manipur at the Fifth National Games when he covered 100 metres in 10.58 s and 200 metres in 21.35 s. On 15th of August in the same year in an International Circuit Meet held at Chennai he broke the national record for 100 m with timing of 10.33 s, finishing behind Chinthaka De Soysa of Sri Lanka who clocked 10.29 s. In the year 2000 he achieved his personal best time of 10.21 s in Bengaluru. However due to the absence of doping control during that time, his timing was not approved by the Athletics Federation of India.
Anil Kumar Prakash broke the national record for 200 metres on 17th July 2000 covering in a time of 20.73 s at the National Circuit Athletic Meet organized in Bengaluru. With this he beat the national record of 21.04 s set by Ajay Raj Singh in the Lucknow inter-State meet in 1999. In the National Circuit Athletic Meet, held on 1st May 2002 at the Nehru Stadium in New Delhi he equalled his own national record of 10.33 s for 100 m. He exhibited a commendable performance in the same month and won the 100 m dash in the second domestic circuit meet in Bengaluru with timing of 10.46 s. He earned victory in the 200 m sprint in the Federation Cup Athletics Championships held in May 2004 at the Nehru Stadium, clocking 21.02 s. He achieved another success after a few weeks at the first ONGC National Athletics Circuit Meet in Delhi when he again won the 200 m dash by clocking 20.84 s.
Achievements of Anil Kumar Prakash
| All-India Open National Championships | ||
| Gold | 1999 Championships | 100 metres |
| Gold | 1999 Championships | 200 metres |
| Gold | 2001 Championships | 100 metres |
| Gold | 2001 Championships | 200 metres |
| Gold | 2004 Championships | 200 metres |
| Gold | 2005 Championships | 100 metres |
