Parul Chaudhary wins bronze in women’s 3000m steeplechase, sets national record at Asian Games 2026

Parul Chaudhary clinched the bronze medal in the women’s 3000m steeplechase on Sunday, September 27, at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya, clocking a personal best of 9:08.67 and taking India’s medal tally to 36.

Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won gold in a Games record time of 9:04.36 and Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto Tanui took silver in 9:06.82; India’s Ankita finished fourth in a personal best of 9:19.24. Parul remained in contention alongside Yavi until the final lap but could not overtake the Bahrain athlete for the title.

Parul’s 9:08.67 was a new national record and bettered her previous best of 9:12.46 set at the Asian Championships in Gumi last year by more than three seconds, making her the first Indian woman to go below 9:10 in the 3000m steeplechase.

The bronze in Nagoya is Parul’s third Asian Games medal overall; she won gold in the 5000m and silver in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, where she made her Asiad debut.

Parul also holds national records in the 3000m and 5000m, and she took this medal a day after competing in the women’s 1500m final in Nagoya. The result continues her run of strong performances across distance events.

With silver in Hangzhou and bronze in Aichi-Nagoya in the 3000m steeplechase, Parul now has two Asian Games individual medals in that event, equalling the two-medal haul of former Indian steeplechaser Sudha Singh, who won gold in Guangzhou in 2010 and silver in Jakarta-Palembang in 2018; Parul was previously a junior to athletes such as Sudha Singh and Lalita Babar.

The bronze added to India’s overall haul at the ongoing Asian Games 2026, taking the country’s total to 36 medals.