Five standout moments for India in athletics at Asian Games 2026
India finished sixth in the athletics medal table at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, taking 1 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze medals. The campaign produced multiple national records and personal bests even though India returned with fewer medals and golds than at the previous edition.
The team recorded several firsts and near-misses across track and field, from a double podium in the javelin throw to a historic women’s pole vault medal. Athletes broke long-standing national marks and posted personal bests while a handful of podium finishes came down to narrow margins. These performances contributed to what the delegation described as a solid outing overall.
Gulveer Singh became the first Indian male athlete to win three athletics medals at a single Asian Games edition, claiming silver in the men’s 10,000m and 1,500m and bronze in the 5,000m. He opened his campaign with silver in the 10,000m, an improvement on the bronze he secured at the previous edition, then ran the 1,500m heats the next day before taking silver in that final and added a third medal the following day, completing four races in five days.
Parul Chaudhary took bronze in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, lowering the national record to 9:08.67 and improving the mark by almost four seconds; that time moved her to 41st in the all-time rankings. Parul then added a bronze in the 5,000m to produce another double podium. "Best Track and Field performance of the Games so far from Parul Chaudhary!Only the 2nd Indian after Neeraj Chopra to be in the Top-50 of All-time lists in a T&F discipline (41st) https://t.co/7tH8CdybG3"
Vithya Ramraj reset the women’s 400m hurdles national record with a time of 54.75 seconds and claimed bronze, surpassing the long-standing mark of 55.43 set by PT Usha. Vithya had equalled that national record at the last edition; the 400m hurdles benchmark had stood for 42 years after Usha set it at the 1984 Olympics, where Usha finished fourth.
Sawan Barwal won silver in the men’s marathon, ending a 44-year wait for an Asian Games medal by an Indian in the event; the previous Indian medallist was Hosur Kukkappa Seetarama, who took bronze in 1982. Barwal became the first Indian to medal in the men’s Asian Games marathon outside India while also breaking the national record with a time of 2:11:37, following his recent national record of 2:11:58 set within the previous five months.
The Indian women’s 4x400m relay quartet of Vithya Ramraj, Kiran, Poovamma and Prachi won the event’s only athletics gold for India at these Games. The quartet delivered India’s seventh Asian Games gold in the women’s 4x400m relay after missing out on the top spot at the previous edition.
India finished the athletics programme with 24 medals at the Asian Games 2026.
