He was born on 17 September 1994 in Nilamel. Anas took up athletics at the Style Sports Academy in Nilamel. He initially trained in the long jump, and changed to 400 m by chance, when his school team was looking for a last-minute replacement for a 400 m competition. His younger brother competed in the long jump at the 2017 World University Games.[1][2]
Anas earlier broke the national 400 m record at the Polish Athletics Championships in June 2016, clocking 45.40 seconds, the exact qualification mark for the 2016 Olympics.[7] He became the third Indian athlete to qualify for this Olympic event, after Milkha Singh (1956 and 1960) and K. M. Binu (2004).[8]
In July 2016, Anas was part of the relay team that broke the national 4 × 400 metres record in Bangalore and qualified for the Rio Olympics. The quartet of Anas, Kunhu Muhammed, Ayyasamy Dharun and Arokia Rajiv clocked 3:00:91, improving their own record of 3:02.17 set four weeks earlier in Turkey. This result placed them 13th in the world ranking.[9]
