Asian Games 2026: India take mixed 4x400 silver; Seema earns 10,000m bronze in Nagoya
India’s mixed 4x400m relay team won silver and Seema claimed bronze in the women’s 10,000m at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Thursday (September 24, 2026). The quartet recorded 3:14.46 in the final at Paloma Mizuho stadium while Seema finished the 10,000m in 32:50.05.
Thirty minutes of persistence on the track followed by three of drama saw day one of track and field end with a bronze and silver for India as the country opened its Asian Games athletics medal tally in Nagoya on Thursday (September 24, 2026). Seema’s podium in the 10,000m ended a 16-year wait for an Indian woman to medal in that event; the mixed 4x400 result came after tactical personnel changes and a late-race incident involving another team.
The Indian mixed 4x400 quartet — Vishal T.K., M.R. Poovamma, Manu T.S. and Vithya Ramraj — combined for the 3:14.46 finish, with Vishal providing a fast opening leg and Vithya producing the decisive anchor. India had run 3:16.23 to finish second in its heat in the morning, then replaced Jay Kumar and Kiran with Vishal and Vithya for the final. Vithya, the only surviving member of the team that won silver in 2023, edged past Vietnam by 0.08 seconds to secure second place.
The UAE, which had led for much of the race, saw Mariam Kareem drop the baton just before the final lap; the team attempted to retrieve it but were disqualified and their protest was rejected by officials. Bahrain retained the title, led by Salwa Eid Naser, setting a new Games record of 3:12.87.
Seema, 25 and competing in her first Asiad, ran 32:50.05 to finish third and became only the third Indian woman to medal in the 10,000m after Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut’s gold-silver finish in 2010. She remained with the lead group that included Yavi Winfred, Ruth Jebet and Nozomi Tanaka, adjusted her tactics mid-race after leading early, and acknowledged she could not respond to the final surge of the eventual winners.
In the triple jump, Asha Ilango recorded a best of 13.83m but finished fourth after losing on countback to China’s Li Yi, who had a next-best mark of 13.79m compared with Asha’s 13.65m; Niharika Vashisht was 10th with a best of 13.00m. Uzbekistan’s Sharifa Davronova defended her title with 14.35m, while Huang Yingying of China took second with 14.12m.
Animesh Kujur and Gurindervir Singh advanced to the semifinals from their respective 100m heats. In the heptathlon, Anamika A.K. sat seventh after four events with 3,177 points and Pooja was ninth with 3,159 points.
Seema said she would apply the lessons from the 10,000m to the 5,000m. "I will use my learning from here in the 5000m," she added.